
Chap. .."3-.X^-°j 5" 

Shelf t %s--T3- 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

CHILDREN'S PETS. By Josephine. 

With Seventy Illuftrations by Harrison Wejr, and others. 
Cloth, 5s. ; cloth, gilt fide and edges, 7s. 6d. - 



i 



RONALD'S REASON; or, The Little 

Cripple. A Book for Boys. By Mrs. S. C. Hall. With Ten 
Engravings, is. One of "The Children's Friend " Series. 



STBIL & HER LIVE SNOWBALL. 

By the Author of " Dick and his Donkey." A Book for 
Girls. With Twelve Engravings, is. 
Children's Friend" Series. 



One of "Tht 



TALK WITH THE LITTLE ONES. 

A Book for Boys and Girls. By the Author of " Rhymes 
Worth Remembering." With Thirty Engravings, is. One 
of « The Children's Friend" Series. 



ROGER MILLER ; or, Heroifm in HumhU 

Life. By the Rev. Geo. Orme. With an Engraving 
cloth, is. 6d. 

PETER BEDFORD, the Spitalfields'Phi- 

lanthropift. By William Tallack. With Portrait, c^th, 

2s. 6d. ■ 

THE DAIRYMAN'S DAUGHTER : an 

Authentic Narrative. By the Rev. Legh Richmond, M.A. 
With Twenty Engravings, cloth, is 6d. j gilt, 2s. 6d. 



COME HOME, MOTHER! A Story for 

Mothers. By Nelsie Brook. With Ten Engravings, 
cloth, is. 

MAUDES VISIT TO SANDT BEACH. 

~A Book for Girls. By the Author of " Croffes of Child- 
hood," With Four Engravings, cloth, is. 



London : S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternofter Row. 




OCRASTINATING MARY 

■ Girls. By the Author of « CrofTes of Childhood? 
tngravings, 6d. 



for 

With 



A Story 



ROSA; or, The Two Caftles. By Mifs 

cTothTr- A ^ f ° r GirlS ' ^ ^-, Engraving 

{New Edition, 

PASSAGES IN THE HISTORT OF A 

SHILLING By Mrs. C. L. Balfovs With Five En- 
gravngs, cloth, ,s. New Em ^ 



m 



OUR DUMB COMPANIONS; or, Stories 

about Dogs, Horfes, Cats, and Donkeys. By Rev T 

££"« N Sm ^ WIth Setkntt -"™ Engravings; cloth, 5,. 5' 
g ' 78, ° d ' [Eleventh Thou/and. 

THE LITTLE GOODMAN fcf Htt 

fnZ G A CMSA *- U *, M «- SH E awoo D . .Parlour Iffue on 
toned paper, cloth, n. 6d. ; gilt, «. 6d. [A4w ^.,.° n 



WASTE NOT, WANT 

for Servants. By Mrs. Sherwood. 
cloth, is. 6d.; gilt, as. 6d. 



ivor. ^ 5^* 

Printed on toned paper, 
[Ne-w Edith*. 



m 
P 

If 

I 

I 

w 
II 
II 

I 



THE MOTHER'S PICTURE ALPHA- 

BET. Printed on Toned Paper. With Twenty-six En- 
graves, boards, 5 s. , cloth, red edges, 7s. 6* , gilt ed£, 
[Seventh Thoufand, 

A MOTHERS LESSONS ON THE 

LORD'S PRAYER. By Mrs. Baleour. With Eight 
Engravings, .Uuftrated cover, «. 6d.j cloth, 3 s. W.j c£E 

5 s - 



extra, 



% 



London : S. W. 



PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternofter Row 



IP 



THOMAS SHILLITOE. 




THOMAS SHILLITOE. 

[From a Fortran in the possession of Mr. William Beck.] 



Thomas Shillitoe, 



THE 



QUAKER MISSIONARY 



TEMPERANCE PIONEER. 



BY / 



$> 



WILLIAM TALLACK, 



Author of "Peter Bedford, the Spitalfields Philanthropist," &c. 




LONDON: 
S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, PATERNOSTER ROW. 

1867. 



Cfr 






LONDON : 

EICHARD BARRETT AND SONS, PRINTERS, 

MARK LANE- 




PREFACE 



A desire has often been expressed for a popular and 
portable memoir of tbe late Thomas Shillitoe, a man of 
whom it may be truly affirmed that he was one of the 
most remarkable of modern missionaries and philan- 
thropists. The writer of the present life has sought to 
furuish such a memoir, and in it he has embodied many 
personal reminiscences of its subject, communicated by 
surviving friends, and has also availed himself of various 
unpublished documents, kindly lent by a member of Mr. 
Shillitoe' s family. 

The principal aim has been to promote an increased 
interest in the great Christian principles and objects of 
social progress, which were so intimately associated with 
the efforts of the good man whose career is here described. 
Frequent allusions have also been made to kindred labours 
and experiences. 



Crown 8vo, ivith a Portrait, price 2s. 6d., cloth. 

PETER BEDFORD, 

THE SPITALFIELDS PHILANTHROPIST. 

CONTAINING AN INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF HIS LABOURS IN THE 
METROPOLIS, ESPECIALLY AMONG THE THIEVES. 

By WILLIAM TALLACK. 




^&^§= 



"HIM ONLY SHALT THOU SERVE." 

: Luke it. 8. 




CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



GENERAL ASPECT OF HIS LIFE. 



A universal philanthropist — An early labourer for Temperance, 
Prison Reform, Abolition of Slavery, and Sabbath observance 
— His strong sense of individual responsibility — His deep 



CHAPTER II. 



YOUTH AXD EARLY MANHOOD. 



Childhood and parental care — Three years in a public-house — 
Depravity and violence of the Eighteenth Century — A grocer's 
apprentice at Wapping and Portsmouth— Returns to London 
— Joins the Friends — Difficulties in consequence — His integ- 
rity amid surrounding compliance with the spirit of the times 
— Quits a bank to become a shoemaker — Trials — His pro- 
spects brighten — Settles at Tottenham — Marriage — Gradually 
acquires property — His ultimate retirement from business to 
devote himself to the service of God 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 
HIS HOME MISSIONS AND ORDINARY MINISTRY. 

PAGKE 

Habitual pedestrian ministry — Extraordinary spells of walking 
— An excessively hot day — Free and easy style of dress — 
Love of labour, both spiritual and manual — His intemperate 
foreman, and the reward of faithfulness — Prayerful trust in 
God — Sense of dependence the measure of Christian progress 
— Faith developed by effort — Indispensable necessity for the 
visitations of the Holy Spirit — "Laying on hard" — Illustra- 
tion of Mr. Shillitoe's style of religious address — Efforts 
amongst the Kingswood colliers — Provision for sufferers by 
colliery accidents — " Compel them to come in" — Visits to 
the widows and orphans of executed machine-breakers — 
Zealous attention even to efforts for single individuals ... 30 

CHAPTER IV. 

HIS FOREIGN MISSIONS. 

Serious prospect of extensive travel at his advanced age — The 
province of reason— The Hicksites — Breaks up his home — 
Five chief objects of effort — Daily breathing-times of the 
spiritual life — Economy of effort — His cheerfulness and plea- 
santness — His gallantry — Locked up at Altona — Honoured 
at Hamburg — Mishaps of Danish travel — Success at Copen- 
hagen — A black guide — New year's festivities in Norway — 
Magnificent scenery — Prussia and Germany — A Friends' 
Meeting conducted under difficulties — Dumb eloquence — 
Home through Switzerland and France .. . ... ... 52 

CHAPTER V. 

FURTHER FOREIGN MISSIONS — RUSSIA AND AMERICA. 

Second continental journey and its labours — Six months in 
Petersburg — Daniel Wheeler — Dread of the police and the 



CONTENTS. XI 

PAGE 

rats — A wful inundation at Petersburg — Perilous journey home- 
ward — Berlin — Eecruits his exhausted energies at Buxton — 
Seizes an opportunity of usefulness there, and visits the Duke 
of Devonshire on behalf of the poor — Embarks for America — 
The Hieksites — The moral sense — Indispensable need of the 
Gospel and the Holy Scriptures — Address to Indians at 
Cataragus — Testimonies of Mr. Moffatt and other missionaries 
as to the necessity of the Bible and of ministry to the heathen 
— Hai Ebn Tokdan — " A cumber-ground " — Children and 
dogs at meeting — Visits to the President and to slave-owners 
— Return to England ... ... ... ... ... 72 



CHAPTER VL 

VISITS TO SOVEREIGNS AND INFLUENTIAL PERSONS. 

Purely religious source of his visits to such persons — Reciprocal 
influences of rulers and subjects, min isters and congregations, 
upon each other — Individual responsibility — As the seed, so 
the harvest — Visit to the President of the "United States — ■ 
William Carter's union prayer meetings — Scriptural commands 
to labour for others in prayer — Mr. Shillitoe's visits to George 
the Third and George the Fourth. — His faithful counsel to the 
latter — Interviews with the Kings of Denmark and Prussia — 
William the Fourth and Queen Adelaide — The Emperor 
Alexander of Russia — The ninety-first Psalm — Alexander's 
religious history — Daniel Wheeler's account of his last 
days... ... ... ... ... ... ... 98 

CHAPTER VTI. 

EFFORTS IN PROMOTION OF TEMPERANCE. 

Intemperance chiefly evil because of its antagonism to religious 
effort — Testimonies of experienced persons — Mr. Shillitoe's 
labours in the whisky-shops of Waterford, Cork, &c. — Insults 
received — Arduous visitation of six hundred drinking-houses 



Xll 



CONTENTS. 



in Dublin — Scene in a cellar — His own remarkable experiences 
of stimulants and abstinence — His extreme nervousness much 
lessened — Dr. Channing on the moral evils and imperceptible 
approach of intemperance ... ... ... ... 122 

CHAPTER Till. 

GENERAL PHILANTHROPIC EFFORTS. 

Prisons, the Sabbath, Theatres, and Kindness to animals ... 135 

CHAPTER IX. 

LAST DAYS. 

Evening of life at Tottenham — Efforts for his poor neighbours — 
His extensive correspondence — Letter from Professor Tholuck 
— Revival amongst the Friends — Indispensable necessity for 
Christ's spiritual influences on the soul, as obtained by a 
constant looking to the Cross — Christ faithful and true from 
youth to age — Quotation from Dr. Bonar —Prepared and 
extemporaneous communications — Habitual reverence — Last 
expressions, and finally sustaining hopes of Thomas Shillitoe 146 




THOMAS SHILLITOE, 



THE 



QUAKER MISSIONARY, 



CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL ASPECT OF HIS LIFE. 

A UNIVERSAL PHILANTHROPIST — AN EARLY LABOURER FOR 
TEMPERANCE, PRISON REFORM, ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, 
AND SABBATH OBSERVANCE — HIS STRONG SENSE OF INDI- 
VIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY — HIS DEEP CHRISTIAN EARNESTNES 
— WEAKNESSES AND STRUGGLES. 

Although comparatively unknown to fame, even 
amongst the religious world, Thomas Shillitoe may, 
without exaggeration, be described as one of the most 
remarkable men of modern times. A member of one of 
the smallest sects in Christendom, and peculiarly destitute 
of any special educational or social advantages, he lived a 
life of wonderful energy as a universal philanthropist and 
as a Christian minister of almost apostolic activity. 

B 



THOMAS SH1LLITOE, 



Long before the establishment of the great philanthropic 
organizations of the present day, he had vigorously de- 
voted himself to the advocacy of their respective principles, 
and, throughout his career, vigilantly seized opportunities 
of urging their importance upon persons in influential 
positions. Almost a quarter of a century before the 
formation of Temperance Societies, he laboured assiduously 
to mitigate the evils of drunkenness. Independently of 
Prison- Keform Associations, he made strenuous exertions 
on behalf of the religious and temporal interests of prison- 
ers at home and abroad. Whilst Slavery was still gene- 
rally countenanced by Christian nations, and even by the 
British Government in its colonial dependencies, Thomas 
Shillitoe, at personal risk, pleaded with slave owners on 
their plantations, for the oppressed bondsmen. And, 
many years previous to the modern associated efforts for 
promoting the reverent observance of the Lord's day, this 
unwearied man visited the chief sovereigns and dignitaries 
of Europe, in whose presence he boldly set forth the 
spiritual and social evils of Sabbath desecration. 

Whilst thus engaged in so great a variety of benevolent 
services, he was equally indefatigable in his labours as a 
minister of the Gospel. We should rather say that he 
considered all the above objects as being subordinate parts 
of his ministry , and not merely collateral or independent 
matters. Knowing how inseparably man's spiritual des- 
tinies are connected with his temporal circumstances and 
material surroundings, Thomas Shillitoe regarded physical 
and social hindrances to religious progress as parts of the 
hostile army against which it was the duty of the Church 
militant to wage uncompromising warfare, and in her 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 6 

ranks lie was a faithful soldier. Yet not altogether can 
he be said to have served in her ranks. Shillitoe, like 
Whitfield and many others, was not formed for easy co- 
operation with fellow- workers. 

His individuality was so strongly marked, his opinions 
so decided, and his constitutional temperament so sensi- 
tive, and at times even morbidly nervous, that he found 
the greater freedom and success in a large measure of 
lonely effort. Thus most of his numerous journeys were 
performed without a companion, a very unusual course 
with ministers of the denomination to which he belonged. 
In reading his letters and addresses, the constant mani- 
festation of an innocent egotism is very striking. The 
pronouns " I," "my," "me," crowd his memoranda; 
but only in the humble simplicity of a person whose very 
soul was permeated by an abiding sense of the solemnity 
of his individual responsibility to one Divine Master. 

This strong sense of individual responsibility is the key 
not only to the extraordinary career of Shillitoe, but also 
to the very large comparative influence which the exceed- 
ingly small sect of the Friends has exercised upon the 
world. That a body of Christians numbering, in the 
United Kingdom, less than fifteen thousand (less alto- 
gether than the members of other denominations often 
included in the population of a single town), should have 
succeeded, as they have done, in being recognized as 
taking a foremost place of influence in the accomplishment 
of almost every great philanthropic and progressive move- 
ment of the age, and in having anticipated most of such 
movements amongst themselves, indicates some very 
powerful basis of action. That basis is one early incul- 

b 2 



4: THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

cated upon the true Friend — the sense of an inalienable, 
untransferable responsibility to his God and Saviour, an 
obligation to serve Him as one who must give an account 
for himself to God, and who may not rely even upon the 
Church or upon her officers for any relief from that awful 
responsibility. 

This feeling of personal duty to God and to Christ, 
urged on Thomas Shillitoe through the arduous career 
which he accomplished. If he met with difficulties and 
discouragements, he looked to his Master for their re- 
moval or conquest. Feeling his own entire weakness, he 
prayed the more earnestly and perseveringly for the pre- 
sence of the energies imparted by God's Holy Spirit. 
Taking the Bible as the chart of his life's voyage, and 
imploring the influences of the Spirit as an impelling and 
sustaining power, he lived his earthly term of discipleship 
and service. And looking beyond Time into the invisible 
but permanent realities of the future Kiugdom, he derived 
an animating steadying power which rendered him in- 
different to human honour or celebrity, and sustained him 
in a quiet unostentatious perseverance to the end. 

He indeed persevered strenuously and lived vigilantly ; 
for to him the Christian's prospect was one of intense 
seriousness. He believed firmly his Lord's assertions, 
" Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which 
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." " Many, 
I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able." 
He read in the glorious descriptions of the future New 
Jerusalem and its kingdom, recorded by the Prophets 
and Apostles so repeatedly, the strict requirements of 
faithful obedience, obtainable by prayer, through Christ's 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. O 

grace, and hence he felt it necessary to u give diligence," 
and to " earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to 
the saints.' 1 He felt that, both as to himself and to 
others, the glorious gift of eternal life through Christ, 
was promised only conditionally, and only to the believer. 
He deemed the Christian course a race for a prize, to be 
won with difficulty ; and, like the Apostle, the tenour of 
his preaching continually was, " So run that ye may 
obtain." This strong sense of the serious business of 
salvation pervaded him to the last, and on his death-bed 
(after a peculiarly saintly life) he exclaimed, " Oh, that 
I could get within the pearl gates — just within the pearl 
gates. I feel I have nothing to depend upon but the 
mercies of God in Christ Jesus. I do not rely for salvation 
upon any merits of my own ; all my own works are as 
filthy rags : my faith is in the merits of Christ Jesus, and 
in the offering He made for us. I trust my past sins are 
all forgiven me — that they have been washed away by the 
blood of Christ, who died for my sins. It is mercy I 
want, and mercy I have." 

Thus, every way, Thomas Shillitoe was a soldier of the 
Cross — his life an arduous endeavour after the prize of 
eternal life, for himself and for others — a prize precious 
and costly, inasmuch as it was purchased only by the 
blood and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, and only 
to be qualified for by the gifts of the Holy Spirit which 
His death procured for men. 

That a life comprising so many striking incidents as 

..that of Thomas Shillitoe should not be known in general 

beyond the narrow circle of his small sect, is not surprising 

when his humility and retiring quietude are considered. 



THOMAS SHILLITOE, 



He counted it a small matter to receive honour from men 
who would soon pass away. If he could win a place in 
the future Kingdom at " the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ with all His saints," that was the only thing worth 
his anxiety and labour. In this characteristic feature of 
his life he resembled thousands of good men in all ages of 
the Jewish and Christian church. The prayerful work of 
" laying up treasure in Heaven" was his desire. When 
he found it necessary to come out publicly in Christian 
effort, he boldly did so, but was glad to get back into 
private life again. And during his travels he felt a special 
interest in seeking out and consoling persons who, like 
himself, had their hopes and aspirations directed with 
simplicity toward God and Christ. He remembered the 
hidden but Divinely reserved seven thousand who had not 
bowed the knee to Baal, but on whom the Lord's good 
pleasure rested, in old time, and the countless number of 
good Jews and Christians ever since, unknown to biogra- 
phers, or to the public mind, but " whose record is on 
high," and whose names are written in the Book of Life, 
of the coming era, when they will " be had in everlasting 
remembrance," and be blessed with the raised saints of 
the Kingdom in " the new heavens and new earth," 
which are to succeed this present dispensation. 

It is but fair to add, that whilst conspicuous as a 
missionary and philanthropist, the subject of this memoir 
was also characterized by a full share of the frailties and 
imperfections common to humanity. Thus he was often 
impetuous and irritable, sometimes obstinate, occasionally 
uncharitable, and always more or less nervous and 
eccentric. 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 7 

But these weaknesses, some of which were the results 
of his physical constitution, render his persevering, 
prayerful, and laborious life, the more instructive and 
exemplary. Mere innocence may be exhibited by child- 
hood and infancy, or even by the gentle irrational lamb 
and peaceful dove. But righteousness, holiness, and ad- 
vanced progress towards perfection, are only developed 
amid conflict, temptation, and prayerful resistance. Hence 
the beauty and interest of such biographies as those of 
Jacob, David, Peter, John, and Paul, whose struggles 
and imperfections are recorded in the pages of inspiration, 
as instructive proofs that their graces were gifts from 
above, and developed, amid conflict, by the operations of 
Divine visitation. 

Thomas Shillitoe was a good man, but also one of 
many weaknesses, and to have ignored these would have 
greatly lessened the value of his peculiarly instructive 
life. 



«lfi$a&& 




THOMAS SHILLITOE, 



CHAPTER II. 

YOUTH AND EARLY MANHOOD. 

CHILDHOOD AND PARENTAL CARE — THREE YEARS IN A PUBLIC- 
HOUSE — DEPRAVITY AND VIOLENCE OF THE EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY — A GROCER'S APPRENTICE AT WAPPING AND PORTS- 
MOUTH — RETURNS TO LONDON — JOINS THE FRIENDS — DIF- 
FICULTIES IN CONSEQUENCE — HIS INTEGRITY AMID SUR- 
ROUNDING COMPLIANCE WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES — 
QUITS A BANK TO BECOME A SHOEMAKER — TRIALS — HIS PRO- 
SPECTS BRIGHTEN — SETTLES AT TOTTENHAM — MARRIAGE — 
GRADUALLY ACQUIRES PROPERTY — HIS ULTIMATE RETIREMENT 
FROM BUSINESS TO DEVOTE HIMSELF TO THE SERVICE OF GOD. 

Thomas Shillitoe was born in London in May, 1754, 
a period when the Dead Sea lifelessness of " the leaden 
age of England," the eighteenth century, was being in 
many places roused into an unwonted excitement by the 
preaching of Wesley and Whitfield. He furnishes us 
with an illustration of the constantly observed fact that 
" As the twig is bent, the tree 's inclined," and that per- 
sonal piety and usefulness are largely dependent on early 
parental care and godly nurture amid the critical years 
when abiding habits, for good or for evil, are usually 
formed. His father was Librarian of Gray's Inn. Both 
father and mother were earnestly desirous of bringing 
up their children in a virtuous life. They belonged to 
the Established Church, and habitually inculcated a due 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. \) 

observance of its rites and services on the members of their 
family. And not merely so, but it was their endeavour, 
as Thomas tells us, to train him and the other children 
" in every moral duty." This speaks well for their seri- 
ousness and sincerity as the heads of a household. 

There may be an outward profession of religion, and 
regular church or chapel-going ; but all will be in vain, 
unless truth, kindliness, honesty, industry, and other 
"moral duties" give evidence of the energizing presence 
of a Christianity which affects the heart and conduct. 
That special care in these respects was extended towards 
the young Shillitoes is further evidenced by the record 
that they were u kept close indoors, seldom being allowed 
to go into the company of other children except at 
school." 

When Thomas was about twelve years old, his father 
found himself unable to continue his duties at Gray's Inn, 
through the infirmities of approaching age, and therefore, 
with a view to an " easy life," started as an innkeeper 
at Islington, as landlord of " The Three Tuns." But, as 
in many cases since, the life of a publican was not found 
to be conducive either to repose, to morals, or to real ad- 
vantage. After three or four years spent in his new occu- 
pation, poor Mr. Shillitoe had in one way and another run 
through his little property, and was glad to resume a quiet 
life at Gray's Inn once more, as a supernumerary or semi- 
retired official. 

It was well for Thomas that his father did not continue in 
u the public line," for it was already producing a mischiev- 
ous effect upon his hitherto carefully guarded morals. He 
was considered old enough to help in the business, and 



THOMAS SHILLITOE, 



CHAPTER II. 

YOUTH AND EARLY MANHOOD. 

CHILDHOOD AND PARENTAL CARE — THREE YEARS IN A PUBLIC- 
HOUSE — DEPRAVITY AND VIOLENCE OF THE EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY — A GROCER'S APPRENTICE AT WAPPING AND PORTS- 
MOUTH — RETURNS TO LONDON — JOINS THE FRIENDS — DIF- 
FICULTIES IN CONSEQUENCE — HIS INTEGRITY AMID SUR- 
ROUNDING COMPLIANCE WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES — 
QUITS A BANK TO BECOME A SHOEMAKER — TRIALS — HIS PRO- 
SPECTS BRIGHTEN — SETTLES AT TOTTENHAM — MARRIAGE — 
GRADUALLY ACQUIRES PROPERTY — HIS ULTIMATE RETIREMENT 
FROM BUSINESS TO DEVOTE HIMSELF TO THE SERVICE OF GOD. 

Thomas Shillitoe was born in London in May, 1754, 
a period when the Dead Sea lifelessness of u the leaden 
age of England," the eighteenth century, was being in 
many places roused into an unwonted excitement by the 
preaching of Wesley and Whitfield. He furnishes us 
with an illustration of the constantly observed fact that 
u As the twig is bent, the tree 's inclined," and that per- 
sonal piety and usefulness are largely dependent on early 
parental care and godly nurture amid the critical years 
when abiding habits, for good or for evil, are usually 
formed. His father was Librarian of Gray's Inn. Both 
father and mother were earnestly desirous of bringing 
up their children in a virtuous life. They belonged to 
the Established Church, and habitually inculcated a due 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 9 

observance of its rites and services on the members of their 
family. And not merely so, but it was their endeavour, 
as Thomas tells us, to train him and the other children 
" in every moral duty." This speaks well for their seri- 
ousness and sincerity as the heads of a household. 

There may be an outward profession of religion, and 
regular church or chapel-going ; but all will be in vain, 
unless truth, kindliness, honesty, industry, and other 
" moral duties" give evidence of the energizing presence 
of a Christianity which affects the heart and conduct. 
That special care in these respects was extended towards 
the young Shillitoes is further evidenced by the record 
that they were " kept close indoors, seldom being allowed 
to go into the company of other children except at 
school . " 

When Thomas was about twelve years old, his father 
found himself unable to continue his duties at Gray's Inn, 
through the infirmities of approaching age, and therefore, 
with a view to an " easy life," started as an innkeeper 
at Islington, as landlord of " The Three Tuns." But, as 
in many cases since, the life of a publican was not found 
to be conducive either to repose, to morals, or to real ad- 
vantage. After three or four years spent in his new occu- 
pation, poor Mr. Shillitoe had in one way and another run 
through his little property, and was glad to resume a quiet 
life at Gray's Inn once more, as a supernumerary or semi- 
retired official. 

It was well for Thomas that his father did not continue in 
M the public line," for it was already producing a mischiev- 
ous effect upon his hitherto carefully guarded morals. He 
was considered old enough to help in the business, and 



10 THOMAS SHILL1TOE, 

was required to serve out liquor and assist generally. 
Sundays in particular were very busy days with him. 
But his parents still required his attendance at church ; 
and it is creditable to them and to their son, that the 
latter records his remembrance of the still abiding feelings 
of reverence with which at this period of his life he used to 
kneel down in public prayer and confession on these occa- 
sions. We may believe that, after the past years of ear- 
nest endeavour for a godly life, Mr. Shillitoe and his son 
would listen with mingled feelings to the clergyman's 
frequent utterance of the suggestive words — " Wherefore 
let us beseech Him to grant us true repentance and his 
Holy Spirit, that those things may please Him which we do 
at this present, and that the rest of our life hereafter may 
be pure and holy, so that at the last we may come to his 
eternal joy through Jesus Christ our Lord." As it was 
an age of drunkenness and profligacy, and as young 
Thomas tells us, he was " exposed to all sorts of company 
and allowed to ramble the village unprotected both by day 
and late of an evening, carrying out beer to the customers, " 
it may be presumed that he was in imminent danger of 
losing the freshness of " the dew of his youth." But 
happily the exposure did not continue long enough to 
undo the work of his guarded and well-instructed child- 
hood. The father's failure was the son's gain, as it led to 
his being apprenticed to a more respectable line of life, 
that of a grocer, at Wapping. 

It may appear strange to the reader, that in the allu- 
sion to his public-house life, just quoted, Thomas speaks 
of Islington as " The Village." But that which is now 
a populous portion of the great metropolis was then a 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 11 

small and straggling suburb. Between it and the City 
were gardens and fields. At the period of Thomas's boy- 
hood, "The An 2: el " at Islington was a famous rural 

7 O O 

tavern whither the citizens repaired on summer after- 
noons and evenings to enjoy themselves. So miserably 
inadequate was the constabulary of those days, that high- 
way robberies and murderous assaults were everyday 
occurrences even in and around London. Hence parties 
were formed, every half-hour, of citizens returning from 
the Angel to the city, who came home in numbers united 
for mutual protection. This was the period when Britain 
was engaged in almost perpetual warfare with other 
countries for "the balance of power," whilst her own 
home administration was in an unparalleled condition of 
disorganization and corruption. Horace Walpole speaks 
of the then dangers of English locomotion thus — "One 
is forced to tray el, even at noon, as if one were going 
to battle." Mr. Andrews, in his work on " the Eighteenth 
Century," graphically describes such incidents as bludgeon 
rights and fatal assaults which not unfrequently occurred 
in Fleet Street and the Strand ; highwaymen attacked 
chaises in Piccadilly, and escaped by riding over the 
" watchmen." The mails were robbed by wholesale. 

Meanwhile on Hounslow Heath, Hampstead, and such 
open spaces, the "deterrent" gibbet was displayed in- 
cessantly, but only to be regarded as a scarecrow by 
ruffians of whom the authorities were afraid. In his 
work on " Crime," Mr. Frederic Hill records the follow- 
ing incident : — "An elderly lady with whom I was well 
acquainted, and who has not long been dead, had occasion 
on the wedding excursion of a friend to whom she had 



12 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

acted as bridesmaid, to pass in the dusk of the evening 
over Hounslow Heath. As they approached a mound 
they saw, under three gibbets that had been erected there, 
a group of men whom the travelling party suspected to 
be highwaymen, and they therefore proceeded immedi- 
ately to conceal their money and jewels. Before they 
could effect their purpose, however, the highwaymen, 
for such they were, presented themselves masked, and, 
with pistols in hand, succeeded in obtaining possession 
of several watches, and nearly forty pounds in money, 
before they were alarmed by the approach of other car- 
riages and obliged to decamp." 

In the earlier portion of the eighteenth century there 
had been formed, amongst the young " bloods," a syste- 
matic association for conducting street outrages. Re- 
spectable citizens were surrounded by these wild fellows, 
and obliged to dance round at their pleasure, obedience 
being enforced by pricking their legs with the points of 
swords worn by the young " gentlemen." Often worse 
followed, noses were slit, skulls cracked, and limbs 
broken. Long after Shillitoe's boyhood astounding social 
evils were prevalent in the metropolis and throughout the 
country ; and yet there are still persons who recur with 
sentimental regret to the " Good old days of George the 
Third," those days without order, without legal justice, 
without gas, without rapid coaches, to say nothing of 
railways and telegraph ; days when the pulpit was asleep, 
the bar and even the bench corrupt, the legislature openly 
purchaseable, and the populace in a general condition of 
ignorance, brutality, and moral indifference. Men were at 
any time liable to be torn away from their families by 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 13 

savage press-gangs ; whole crews of honest sailors, just 
returned from a long voyage, were sometimes obliged to 
fight for their liberty with the King's officers. Yet a 
favourite tune was u Britons never will be slaves." 
Duelling and fighting were universally in vogue. Drunk- 
enness was more prevalent than at any preceding 
period. It was inscribed in large letters outside the 
publican's houses, at this period, that persons might get 
drunk for a penny, dead drunk for twopence, and have 
straw for nothing, liquor at that time being remarkably 
cheap and untaxed. All around the coast smuggling 
afforded a livelihood to thousands. It is recorded that 
on one occasion a cavalcade of some ten waggons, each 
drawn by four horses, and all laden with " run " goods, 
was escorted safely to London by smugglers. On enter- 
ing the City a pitched battle ensued, in which the revenue 
officers were obliged to retreat, and the smugglers suc- 
ceeded in safely housing their spoil. Meanwhile the 
judges at the Old Bailey and elsewhere persevering] y 
hung men, women, and children by the half-dozen and 
dozen at a time ; but the evils of the time continued as 
bad as ever. 

Such were the days of Shillitoe's boyhood; and it v is 
no wonder that his parents, when able, should have kept 
him and his brothers " close indoors," except when at 
school. 

Thomas was sixteen years of age when he removed 
from Islington to "Wapping. But at the latter place he 
speedily found fresh cause to deplore the mischiefs of 
intemperance. He had barely been twelve months in the 
grocery trade when his master, whose drinking habits had 



14 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

latterly increased to an extent winch precluded his pros- 
perity, was compelled to relinquish his business. But 
having relatives at Portsmouth he removed thither and 
resumed the same occupation, taking his apprentice, 
Thomas, with him. The latter now found things worse 
than ever. Surrounded by profligate scenes of the worst 
description, he shrunk with horror from the frequent con- 
tact with vicious and degraded persons which was now 
forced upon him, as his master's shop was situated in the 
lowest part of the town. It is greatly to the youth's 
credit that, in order to counteract the contaminating influ- 
ences to which he was daily exposed, he sought to find 
virtuous companions from whose society he might derive 
some confirmation in his honest desires after a life of 
integrity and piety. Both at Wapping and Portsmouth 
he succeeded in forming some useful acquaintance of this 
description. But beyond all other means of preservation 
at this critical period, Thomas ascribes his safety to the 
continued renewal of serious impressions in his heart, by 
the visitations of the Holy Spirit of the Lord who had 
graciously watched over his childhood, and who had sur- 
rounded him with a peculiar measure of parental care and 
protection. 

Feeling from time to time these freshened constraints 
towards a life of godliness and peace, Thomas became at 
length so thoroughly dissatisfied with his position at 
Portsmouth that he wrote to his parents entreating them 
to procure his release from his indentures. This was 
eventually accomplished, and returning to London he once 
more entered a grocery business, but this time as an assist- 
ant to a sober, God-fearing tradesman, whom Thomas 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 15 

mentions as having been u sl great help to me." He was 
a regular attendant of public worship and encouraged his 
assistant to accompany him, taking a sincere interest in 
his religious and moral improvement. After three years 
spent in this quiet situation, Thomas became acquainted 
with a young man, a distant relative, some of whose con- 
nections were Quakers, and who was in the habit of 
attending the meetings of that denomination. Thither he 
persuaded Thomas to accompany him. This soon became 
a regular habit ; but Thomas frankly records : ' ' My 
motive for this change was not a pure one ; my chief 
inducement being to meet my young relation and after- 
wards go home to dine with him ; his acquaintance causing 
me to neglect the attendance of a place of worship the re- 
maining part of the day, which had been my uniform practice 
for the last three years. My new companion also took 
me to the most fashionable tea-gardens and other places 
of public resort, where we spent the afternoon and at 
times the evening. 

After more than a year of this life Shillitoe's mind 
became very uneasy. Conscience smote him for his retro- 
grade habits on the Sabbath, and he was brought into 
serious considerations of his ingratitude to God who had 
followed him thus far with his protection and gracious 
invitations to piety. Thomas, whose youthful seriousness 
had never wholly passed away, now resolutely endeavoured 
to commit himself to a decided course. Acknowledging 
the mercy of God's renewed visitation to his soul, he 
earnestly prayed that his Heavenly Father would now 
establish him permanently in a righteous course, that He 
would never again leave him or permit the enemy of his 



16 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

soul to lead him astray, and that whatever discipline might 
be needful to secure life-long faithfulness might not be 
withheld. These prayers were graciously and permanently 
answered. From that time forward Thomas's life was an 
uninterrupted advance in godliness. Never again was he 
prevailed upon by temptation, to forsake either the pro- 
fession or the practice of a decidedly religious life. And 
henceforth he diligently sought to manifest his fidelity to 
his Lord by act and endeavour as well as by the profession 
of the Christian name. 

Although he had been induced to attend the worship of 
the Friends from motives which were not really religious, 
and although for some time he does not appear to have 
derived benefit from that attendance, yet he gradually 
became impressed with a conviction that it would be well 
for him to become an adherent of a denomination whose 
worship afforded such peculiar incitements to reverent 
individual prayer and meditation, and whose general con- 
duct was characterized by peculiar sobriety and straight- 
forward, unambitious rectitude. Henceforth, and for the 
remainder of his life, Thomas Shillitoe became a member of 
the Society of Friends. 

But, in arriving at this conclusion, he had a painful and 
very trying ordeal to pass through. His parents, although, 
as we have seen, serious and careful persons, entertained 
a decided dislike of Quakerism, and manifested much 
opposition to their son's union with that sect. In common 
with many others, they had probably imbibed very mistaken 
opinions relative to the Friends, who in the eighteenth 
century had greatly fallen away from the fervour and 
proselytizing activity of their founders and predecessors 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 17 

Further, the absence of the Holy Scriptures from their 
worship, and the great importance which at that period 
the Friends attached to certain traditional outward obser- 
vances, had given rise to an incorrect but wide-spread 
impression that they rejected the Bible, and were not 
orthodox in their views of Christ's divinity or in their 
desire to obey His sacred commands. The latter charges 
have often been alleged against them by their opponents, 
but not by those who truly understand them. In the present 
day Quakerism has thrown off the slumbers and formalism 
of its eighteenth century life, in good degree at least ; and 
its followers are now again, like their energetic founders, 
manifesting an active and philanthropic interest in the 
spiritual and social advance of their fellow-men, and a 
clearer and more unmistakable reverence for the Holy 
Scriptures, which are the chief channel and most honoured 
instrument for the operations of the Divine Spirit who 
inspired them. Thomas Shillitoe himself was one of the 
very first persons who infused a new life into the denomi- 
nation to which he now committed himself. 

But, for the present at least, he failed to convince his 
parents that the step taken by him was a progressive one. 
They grieved over him as forsaking the path in which they 
had carefully trained him, and in which certainly God had 
blessed him with much approval of his youthful faithfulness 
to the Church of which he had been hitherto a member. 
We should rather say that he merely quitted one 
department of the indivisible Church of Christ for 
another department. There is but one true Church — the 
Zion of the Lord Jesus. But, like Mount Zion itself, 
though presenting certain grand outlines visible to all and 

c 



18 

recognized by all who approach it, yet it is many-sided, 
and some of its aspects vary considerably from others. 

Shillitoe swerved not at all from his boyhood's aspira- 
tion to " go up to the mountain of the Lord ;" but it was 
given him to see that it would be attended with manifold 
advantages, for him to select a path thitherward, hitherto 
untrodden by himself and wholly strange to his parents. 
God seemed to be thus calling him, and humbly, but 
decisively, he obeyed. 

His training in one section of the Church and his sub- 
sequent union with another, gave him more enlarged 
views as to the equal godliness of Christians holding very 
different opinions on some religious questions. He was 
thus aided to understand the sacred assertion — " There 
are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there 
are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same 
God, which worketh all in all " (1 Cor. xii. 4-6). Such an 
experience was peculiarly useful to one who was afterwards 
to become God's messenger to men of many outward 
forms of faith, speaking diverse tongues and belonging 
to races widely separated by ocean and continent. 

Yet Thomas Shillitoe was henceforth a warmly attached 
adherent to his adopted section of the Church, feeling that 
the path which appeared specially adapted to him must be 
also specially pondered by him. His ascent of Mount 
Zion, his approach to the throne of the King whom he 
hoped and trusted one day to see manifest thereon, was to 
be by a path which he would carefully devote his attention 
to, apart from other means of access more suited to the 
diverse spiritual or mental constitution of others. For to 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 19 

one is given capacity and force of choice widely diverse 
from another, even as the alpine summit is attained in 
one manner by the eagle's flight, in another by the leaps 
of the bright- eyed chamois, and otherwise again by the 
persevering footstep of the human traveller. 

The difficulties in which young Shillitoe was placed by 
the strong opposition of his parents to his union with the 
Friends attracted the sympathizing notice of a motherly 
member of that persuasion named Margaret Bell. She 
actively interested herself on his behalf, and soon procured 
him what she presumed would be a congenial situation as 
a clerk in a Quaker banking house in Lombard Street, 
where the young convert would be surrounded by associates 
of the same views as his own, and where his feelings would 
be sympathized with and appreciated. Thomas entered 
hopefully on his new situation, and devoted himself to a 
conscientious performance of its duties. But trials and 
disappointment awaited him even there. He had expected 
that, after the painful reminiscences of Islington, ^Yapping, 
and Portsmouth, a situation where his companions would 
be members of the sober sect of Friends must necessarily 
be in comparison a little guarded Eden, a place shielded 
from the temptations of a wicked world, and affording 
associations which, even more decidedly than the watchful 
oversight of his late worthy master, the church-going 
grocer, would be "a great help" to him. Alas! for 
human nature ; Thomas speedily found it to be substan- 
tially the same, though, like the chamelion, presenting 
very various outward aspects. For a man to make a pro- 
fession of special religious zeal whilst really following evil 
with as much zest as non-professors, is merely adding the 

c 2 



20 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

greater sins of hypocrisy and falsehood. Thomas grieved 
deeply to find in his new and demnre looking companions 
persons who, when able to do so, freely indulged in gaiety 
and dissipation. He sadly records of these, " many of 
them are as much given up to the world and its delusive 
pleasures as other professors of the Christian name." 

It was further a matter of pain to him that his em- 
ployers, the heads of the firm, yielded themselves and 
their subordinates to the demoralizing spirit of the day, 
inasmuch as they issued to their customers lottery tickets, 
which in the eighteenth century were so extensively 
patronized by the government. Every form of gambling 
and betting characterized that wretched period, and 
pervaded all ranks of society. Almost the whole time of 
the fashionable ladies was devoted to cards, masquerades, 
and routs. Ladies, too, swore habitually "like troopers." 
One of Lord Mansfield's clerks declared of a certain one 
(in 1738) — " I could not make out, sir, who she was ; but 
she swore so dreadfully that she must be a lady of 
quality!" This "lady" was the Duchess of Marlborough. 
Gentlemen of " quality " swore also, got drunk and betted 
almost universally. A bet, which at the time attracted 
much attention, was entered into by Lord Kockingham 
and Lord Orford. These noblemen staked five hundred 
guineas on the result of a journey to London from Nor- 
wich, to be performed by two batches of miserable birds — 
five turkeys and five geese. Lord Orford won, for his 
geese arrived first. The government fostered this gambling 
spirit officially by the issue of lottery tickets. Thus tickets 
for a million pounds would be distributed, and eagerly pur- 
chased throughout the nation. Of this one hundred thou- 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 21 

sand pounds would be apportioned in prizes, leaving a profit 
(less commission to agents) of nine hundred thousand. 
When the government thus led the way, and when even 
respectable Quaker houses undertook the distribution, it 
is no wonder that the populace rushed in multitudes after 
the " golden chances" so dispersed. 

But the sterling piety of Thomas Shillitoe recoiled from 
this " going with a multitude to do evil." In him was a 
goodly measure of the spirit which animated of old "Atha- 
nasius against the world," and earlier still the three godly 
youths who unflinchingly refused to bow down to the 
golden image in the plain of Dura, notwithstanding it 
was that even " which Nebuchadnezzar the King had set 
up." Shillitoe was, in his way and generation, both a 
Daniel and an Athanasius. He had, probably, not been 
long enough amongst the Quakers to have read all the 
worthy deeds of George Fox and Edward Burrough, who, 
in the preceding century, were ' i firm as a rock and as 
stiff as a tree" in their u testimonies " against evil in 
high places. But Thomas strove for strength to bear his 
" testimony " too, even if it offended the dignity of the 
formal and stereotyped professors around him. He would 
be rather a Friend of the stamp of Fox, and would seek 
henceforth something deeper and higher than the merely 
traditional scrupulosities of his then degenerate successors. 
And he succeeded in his endeavours. But first he must 
leave Lombard Street. 

Where next was he to go? What was he to do? 
Seriously and prayerfully he committed his way to the 
Lord, and craved that he might be guided aright. He 
reflected that he had now tried several situations, the 



22 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

public-house, the grocer's shop, and the bank. In each 
of these he had been diligent and active, but had suffered 
mainly from unavoidable association with others less con- 
scientious than himself. It now appeared to him that it 
would be best to devote himself to some handicraft which 
he could pursue, if needful, in absolute solitude, or in 
which, at airy rate, he might not be compelled always 
to be mixed up with the actions of uncongenial asso- 
ciates. The humble employment of shoemaking came 
before his mind, and after very serious consideration he 
determined to sacrifice worldly advantages for the pros- 
pects of quietude and independent exertion which that 
occupation promised. This resolution brought Thomas 
into fresh difficulties. His relatives, and even his kindly 
disposed Quaker friends, thought him foolish and deluded. 
Numerous were the remonstances urged against the 
adoption of the awl and last by a young man situated in 
a first-rate bank and with good prospects of probable 
advancement. Another difficulty arose from the humili- 
ating change which would result from his having to 
relinquish the respectable appearance which he had now 
to maintain. For instance, he still wore a plain sword at 
his side, after the fashion of the clay. But Thomas was 
ready to sacrifice all style and appearance to his con- 
scientious scruples. His employers also appreciated his 
faithfulness, and would not at first entertain his proposal. 
Amid the conflict of advice and criticism Thomas again 
had recourse to his motherly friend Margaret Bell, who 
replied, with a woman's shrewdness, " The wise man says, 
' in the multitude of counsellors there is safety,' but I say 
there often wants safety." She therefore advised him to 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 23 

look at the matter simply and mainly in its probable 
bearing on his religious advancement, and as in the sight 
of the Lord. From this point of view the course seemed 
plain. Thomas promptly decided, and resigned his clerk- 
ship accordingly. 

His next step was to make an agreement with a shoe- 
maker in Southwark, who undertook to teach him his 
handicraft in all its branches for the consideration of half 
the small sum which Thomas had managed to save. The 
latter perseveringly studied to become proficient in his 
new employment, but it was very humbling and unre- 
muneratiye work for a long time. He records — "My 
little surplus of money wasted fast, and my earnings were 
very small, not allowing me more for the first twelve 
months than bread, cheese, and water, and sometimes 
bread only, to keep clear of getting into debt, which I 
carefully avoided. Sitting constantly on the seat at work 
made it hard for me, so that I might say I worked hard 
and fared hard. Many of my friends manifested a fear 
my health would suffer ; but I soon became reconciled to 
the change in my diet, as did also my constitution." He 
adds that some of his friends used to remark that his 
cheerful and healthy looks reminded them of the counte- 
nance of Daniel and his companions after their vegetarian 
diet of pulse. On Sundays some of Thomas's acquaint- 
ances invited him to dinner, which afforded a welcome 
change from his scanty fare and unsocial occupation during 
the week. 

Meanwhile he reflected with abiding satisfaction on the 
course he had committed himself to. Doubtless he would 
have uphill work at first, but eventually better days might 



24 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

be hoped for. He says, — " I trusted that if I kept close 
to my good Guide in all my future steppings, He would 
not fail so to direct me, that time would evince to my 
friends, that I had not been deceived in the step I had 
thus taken." And so it proved. 

Having mastered his craft, Thomas left his instructor in 
the Borough, and took lodgings in the City, where he rapidly 
obtained employment, especially from the Friends. Things 
were already looking bright, and it appeared likely that he 
would soon be in possession of a promising business. But 
now a further trial overtook him. His health failed ; ex- 
cessive weakness almost prostrated him, and the doctors 
urged him to quit London. It was not, however, neces- 
sary to go far. At that time a numerous population of 
Quakers inhabited Tottenham ; to many of these Thomas 
was well known, and thither he betook himself and re- 
sumed his shoe-business. Here his health improved, 
many customers came to him, two Quaker schools em- 
ployed him, and he presently found himself obliged to 
engage two journeymen to assist him. Thomas was 
twenty -three years old when he settled at Tottenham, in 
1778, and from that time till his death, nearly sixty years 
afterwards, in 1836, it was his home, with the exception 
of several years spent with his children in Yorkshire, and 
a similar period at Hitchin in Herts, when in advanced 
life. But the latter portion of his days were again spent 
at Tottenham. 

In allusion to the circumstances which led to his quitting 
London for Tottenham, he says, " Thus does our great 
almighty Care-taker, as we are willing to become subject 
to his control and government, lead us about and in 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 25 

various ways instruct us, by sickness and by health, 
by crosses and disappointments, that we of ourselves are 
poor feeble, fallible mortals, wholly at the disposal of, 
and under, His turning and overturning hand of power." 
Thomas throughout life habitually recognized the pointings 
of Providence, and implored, in frequent prayer, that the 
Lord would order his path aright, and truly be his Master 
and King. His constant committal of his path to God 
reminds us of the good man of ancient times, recorded in 
Holy Scripture as being c f more honourable than his 
brethren ;" and of whom it is added, " Jabez called on the 
God of Israel, saying, Oh, that thou wouldest bless me 
indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might 
be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil 
that it may not grieve me ! And God granted him that 
which he requested." (1 Chronicles iv. 10.) 

Like Jabez, Thomas Shillitoe desired to be " blessed 
indeed " not merely prospered in this life at the expense 
of his preparation for Christ's glorious kingdom, but so 
blessed that his final and everlasting happiness might be 
multiplied. He had already learned that many apparent 
blessings are often deadly curses ; that, although com- 
petence, or a preservation from the severe temptations of 
poverty, is very desirable, yet that such a sense of 
independence as may lead to a forgetfulness of God, and 
to the neglect of His work and service, often kills the soul 
and entails the forfeiture of " the good things which God 
hath prepared for them that love Him." He had seen 
that, to the young especially, it is cruelty, instead of 
kindness, to bring them up in idleness and prosperous 
carelessness, instead of a participation in the healthful 



26 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

exercise of useful self- exertion, and serviceable citizenship. 

And now that a settled business was opening out before 
him at Tottenham, he turned his thoughts towards 
marriage. But feeling the intense importance of serious 
consideration, before permanently and irrevocably uniting 
himself to one whose influence on his present and eternal 
welfare must, necessarily, very materially decide the good 
or the evil of his existence, he again had recourse to 
reverent fervent prayer, and entreated some intimation or 
confirmation from the Lord. He writes, "I besought 
the Lord to guide me by his counsel, in taking this very 
momentous step ; and I thought I had good ground to 
believe He was pleased to grant my request, and pointed 
out to me one who was to be my companion for life, 
Mary Pace, a virtuous woman of honest parents, to whom, 
in due time, I made proposals of marriage ; and, in 1778, 
we were united in the solemn covenant of marriage." 

The young couple commenced housekeeping in a very 
quiet and thrifty style, keeping no servant, and diligently 
seeking to set an honest and industrious example. Success 
followed their endeavours ; and, after twenty- seven years 
thus spent in the shoe-trade at Tottenham, Thomas had 
accumulated property which brought him in an income of 
about a hundred pounds a year. He believed it his duty 
to be content with this, and to retire upon it from further 
active operations in trade, in order that he might devote 
himself uninterruptedly to the Lord's service, and to the 
benefit of his fellow- creatures. He had already felt called 
upon to express frequently, amongst the Friends and 
others, words of religious counsel and exhortation. He 
had taken several preaching journeys into the counties 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 27 

around the Metropolis, and had become recognized as a 
useful and faithful minister of the Gospel, although still, 
after the manner of the Friends, actively and industriously 
prosecuting his trade. But at length, in 1805, at the age 
of fifty-one, he thus states his inward impression and 
conviction : — " An apprehension was at times presented to 
my mind that the time was fast approaching when I must 
be willing to relinquish a good business which I had been 
helped to get together, and set myself more at liberty to 
attend to my religious duties from home, by the language 
which my Divine Master renewedly proclaimed in the ear 
of my soul, of ' Gather up thy wares into thine house, for 
I have need of the residue of thy days ' ; accompanied by 
an assurance, that although there was, as some would 
consider, but little meal in the barrel, and little oil in the 
cruse, of temporal property (not having realized more than 
a bare hundred pounds a year, and all my five children to 
settle in the world), if I was but faithful in giving up to 
this and every future requiring of my great Creator, the 
meal and oil should not waste. 

u I endeavoured to weigh this requisition of my Divine 
Master in the best way my feeble capacity was equal to, 
and well knew that the meal and oil He had thus con- 
descended to give in store, would be amply sufficient for 
me and my dear wife, should we be permitted to see old 
age, provided we continued to pursue our economical 
habits, and that I must leave the provision for my 
children's settling in life to that same Almighty Power 
who had so abundantly cared for us ; yet the prospect of 
relinquishing a good business, as my son declined taking 
to it, was at times a close trial of my faith. The requiring, 



28 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

however, pressed upon me with increasing weight, accom- 
panied with a fear that if I did not endeavour, after a 
cheerful resignation of myself and my all (which a kind 
Providence had given us for our declining years) to his 
disposal, even all this would be blasted again, without 
power on my part, with my utmost caution and care to 
prevent." 

Knowing that even solemn impressions of duty, on 
matters not clearly laid down in Holy Scripture, might 
sometimes be misapprehensions, Thomes Shillitoe wisely 
took counsel with some of his most experienced religious 
acquaintances. These, after a full consideration of the 
subject, approved his faith, and advised compliance. 

A suitable opportunity soon occurred for disposing of 
his business, and thenceforth, Thomas Shillitoe, untram- 
melled by secular cares, devoted himself to the home and 
foreign service of his Lord and of the churches. He 
considered it an indication of the Divine pleasure at the 
sacrifice that he had now made, that, shortly after his 
retirement from trade, on the decease of a person from 
whom he had not the slightest expectation, it was found 
that in her will she had bequeathed Mr. Shillitoe a 
hundred pounds. This was an acceptable and seasonable 
gift, which he gratefully ascribed to the interposition of his 
Heavenly Father. 

In 1806, about a year after Thomas Shillitoe had, as he 
supposed, wound up his affairs, it was further impressed 
upon his mind that he would not be completely disentangled 
from secular cares, until he had also freed himself from 
the obligations connected with some leasehold property 
held by sub -tenants under him. As this prospect 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 29 

threatened to reduce his income more than ever, he was 
not in a hurry to act upon it, and took two years to turn 
it over in his mind. But at length; in 1808, haying made 
all needful arrangements for a preaching journey in 
Ireland, Thomas Shillitoe found his mind so "clouded" 
with a sense of the absence of the Lord's comforting 
presence, compared with other times, that he was brought 
into very close self-examination as to the cause, and it 
then appeared clear to him that his retention of the lease- 
holds was the source of his difficulty. He then arranged 
finally, both with his landlord and with the tenants, to free 
himself from the leasehold covenants ; and, owing to the 
liberality of the former, the terms agreed upon were such 
as rendered Thomas Shillitoe' s income henceforth greater, 
instead of less, than before. Thus, again, his faithfulness 
was rewarded ; and, in addition, he found himself com- 
pletely disentangled from obligations which had, at times, 
engrossed much of his attention, and which might have 
led to perplexities unfavourable to a life devoted to 
Christian ministry. 

Although, amongst the Friends, some of the ministers 
leave their outward occupations at times, to undertake 
Gospel journeys, yet the greater number of their actively 
engaged preachers are such as have retired from business, 
or have been placed in comfortable circumstances, sufficient 
at least to remove them from temporal anxieties whilst 
ministering. Thomas Shillitoe now became one of this 
number, and henceforth his Gospel labours increased 
manifold. 



30 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 



CHAPTER III. 

HIS HOME MISSIONS AND OEDINAEY MINISTRY. 

HABITUAL PEDESTRIAN MINISTRY — EXTRAORDINARY SPELLS 
OF WALKING— AN EXCESSIVELY HOT DAY — FREE AND EASY 
STYLE OF DRESS — LOVE OF LABOUR, BOTH SPIRITUAL AND 
MANUAL — HIS INTEMPERATE FOREMAN, AND THE REWARD 
OF FAITHFULNESS — PRAYERFUL TRUST IN GOD— SENSE OF 
DEPENDENCE THE MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN PROGRESS — 
FAITH DEVELOPED BY EFFORT— INDISPENSABLE NECESSITY 
FOR THE VISITATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT — "LAYING ON 
HARD" — ILLUSTRATION OF MR. SHILLITOE's STYLE OF RE- 
LIGIOUS ADDRESS — EFFORTS AMONGST THE KINGSWOOD 
COLLIERS — PROVISION FOR SUFFERERS BY COLLIERY ACCI- 
DENTS — "COMPEL THEM TO COME IN" — VISITS TO THE 
WIDOWS AND ORPHANS OF EXECUTED MACHINE-BREAKERS 
— ZEALOUS ATTENTION EVEN TO EFFORTS FOR SINGLE 
INDIVIDUALS. 

Thomas Shillitoe had commenced Lis ministry by 
occasional exhortations in the meetings of the Friends 
very soon after his union with their Society, at about the 
age of twenty-five. During the following twenty-five 
years he continued to preach occasionally, and several 
times undertook short journeys on his religious errands. 
But until his retirement from business in 1805 (at the age 
of fifty-one), he had not entered extensively on the sphere 
of labour which henceforth characterized him. With the 
exception of a brief visit to the Channel Islands, Calais, 
and Dunkirk, his travels previous to this period do not 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 31 

appear to have extended further than Lincolnshire, or to 
have occupied, in the aggregate, more than about ten 
months during the twenty -five years. But, after his re- 
tirement from business, his home and foreign religious 
labours were abundant and continuous. Faithfully, and 
with humble entireness of dedication, he surrendered 
"the residue of his days" to the arduous exercises of 
ministerial travel. 

Mr. Raskin has somewhere remarked that, in the days 
of our Lord and his Apostles, the Gospel was promulgated 
only " at a walking pace." And, on recurring to the New 
Testament, it is certainly noticeable that, notwithstanding 
the comparatively high civilization of Palestine in the time 
of our Saviour, the earliest promulgators of Christianity 
were habitually pedestrians in their labours of love. The 
Evangelists repeatedly allude to the journeys on foot of 
that sacred band, foremost amongst whom was their 
Divine Lord and Leader. And when, on other occasions, 
they went forth two and two, they received the command 
" that they should take nothing for their journey save a 
staff only," inasmuch as those who received the blessing 
of their services were to supply all needful wants ; and 
when this return was not accorded, the further command 
was " Shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony 
against them." In the Acts of the Apostles also, there 
are allusions to the general pedestrian movements of the 
Apostles. Of Philip, for instance, it is recorded that he 
"ran" towards the Ethiopian noble, who, riding home- 
ward in his chariot, was reading the pages of Isaiah. 
Other modes of travel were, doubtless, always permissible 
and often preferable. Nevertheless, for various reasons, 



32 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

the Apostolic missionaries appear to have usually chosen 
the independence and freedom of walking. Thus of Paul 
we read that when he had the option of proceeding from 
Troas to Assos by ship with his companions, or on land 
without them, he chose the latter course, " minding him- 
self to go afoot" (Acts xx. 13). Probably the quiet 
opportunity thus afforded for meditation and secret prayer 
was the deciding motive in the latter instance. 

Partly for a similar reason, partly on economical grounds, 
and also probably from a love of independent and free 
movement, Thomas Shillitoe very often performed his 
preaching journeys on foot. He was characteristically a 
pedestrian religious itinerant. His memoranda abound in 
such records as the following : — " After meeting I walked 
to Castleton, ten miles ; had a comfortable meeting with 
a few Friends there next morning. In the afternoon 
walked to "Whitby, fourteen miles over a dreary moor. 
After it I walked to Russell Dale, and next day to Helms- 
ley ; in the afternoon to Bilsdale. Next day walked about 
thirty-two miles to Knaresborough, and next day to 
Kawden. I walked to Lothersdale, about twenty-two 
miles. The great quantity of rain that has fallen of late 
has made travelling on foot trying : I hope to be pre- 
served in the patience, apprehending it is the line of 
conduct I must pursue when time will allow of it. Next 
day walked to Netherdale, about twenty-four miles." 

The continuity of Thomas Shillitoe' s pedestrianism was 
sometimes extraordinary. Thus, in one week he mentions 
walking on a Saturday evening from Lancaster to Wyers- 
dale ; on the Sunday afternoon to Ray ; on the Monday 
twenty- six miles to Hawes ; on Tuesday twenty- eight 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 33 

miles to Masham ; on Wednesday twenty-three miles to 
Leyburn ; on Thursday eight miles to Aysgarth, and the 
same afternoon ten miles over the moor to Reeth. On 
Friday he set out with a horse and chaise to return to 
Hawes, but rinding the dales were at that time flooded in 
many places owing to the recent heavy rains, he quitted 
the conveyance and recommenced walking, often coming 
to places where the usual crossing by stepping-stones was 
impracticable, and where he had to wade through the 
rushing streams. However, he reached Hawes safely, 
and, fortified by a good dinner, boldly struck over the 
fells to Brigflatts, whence on Saturday he walked to 
Kendal, and reached Lancaster in the evening. Such 
was a week's work of this zealous and simple-hearted 
evangelist ! 

Repeatedly he proceeded on foot by rajDid stages across 
England at a similar pace to the Yorkshire journey just 
described. Thus in the same year (1807) he walked from 
Liverpool to Warrington, thence to Macclesfield, on a 
Saturday, a journey of twenty- three miles. On the 
Sabbath morning he walked thirteen miles to Leek, and 
held a meeting there. He started again on foot on 
Monday, and performed twenty-nine miles to Derby ; 
then the next day another thirty miles to Leicester ; on 
Wednesday walked twenty -nine miles to Northampton. 
" The day proving wet, travelling became more difficult; 
but now, drawing so near home operated as a spur to do 
my best." On Thursday he accomplished twenty-three 
miles to Woburn, and on Friday walked the remaining 
thirty-nine miles, which brought him safe back to his 
family. 



34 



THOMAS SHILLITOE, 



One reason for his preference of walking is indicated in 
a memorandum in which he writes : " Proceeded by boat 
to Warrington (from Manchester) with a mixed company, 
whereby I found myself deprived of that quiet opportunity 
for reflection, which my usual mode of travelling affords 
me ; leaving the boat, I walked to Liverpool." 

Thomas Shillitoe found the inconveniences of summer 
heat often greater than those of winter rains. In the 
extraordinary season of the year 1809, in July, he was 
again walking across England, on his way to Ireland. 
Having arrived at the village of Lower Heaford, after a 
walk of thirty miles thither the preceding day, he started 
thence towards Hinckley, in Leicestershire. As the 
district was very thinly populated, and the roads not 
frequented by many travellers, it was not likely that he 
would be able to meet with any entertainment, except 
perhaps at one place. Accordingly, his host at Heaford 
supplied him with a bottle of cider and some bread as an 
equipment for the day's needs. With this not very 
luxurious provision the good man started on his way, but 
as early as nine o'clock was almost brought to a stand by 
the unprecedented heat. He writes, " I was overcome by 
it, and obliged to have such frequent recourse to my cider 
and bread, it was soon exhausted. I made but little 
progress in getting forward, although, by stripping off 
most of my apparel, I relieved myself all in my power. 
By twelve o'clock the air became so affected in the shade, 
I felt as if I was surrounded every way by heat from a 
fire. As yet I had not passed an habitation of any de- 
scription, nor met or seen man, woman, child, or any living 
animal." After the long drought and heat, the pools and 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 35 

ditches contained no water. But Mr. Shillitoe perceiving 
a bridge at a distance, eagerly turned his steps towards it, 
hoping to find a stream where he might quench his intense 
thirst. There was indeed a little stagnant water remaining:, 
and in the midst of this a cow was stamping her feet for a 
little coolness. Almost ready to perish, Mr. Shillitoe 
drank of the nauseous liquid, and filled his bottle with 
some for the remainder of his journey. Stripping off most 
of his clothes, he carried them in a bundle on his back, 
and again crept wearily along. By and by he met a boy 
whom he paid to carry his bundle to the nearest house, a 
mile distant. There he offered a seven- shilling piece to 
be conveyed one mile further to a wayside inn. But before 
starting he was so exhausted that it was necessary for him 
to lie down awhile on a bed. When somewhat recruited, 
he resumed his way on a pony. But so excessive was the 
heat that, he records, " The gooseberries on the trees next 
morning appeared, where they were exposed to the sun, 
as if they had been in an oven or saucepan on the fire. 
Near fifty horses, it was reported, had dropped down dead 
on the north road, and many people who were working 
in the fields. It was supposed to have been the hottest 
day known in this nation." 

Thomas Shillitoe sometimes carried his love of inde- 
pendence and simplicity to an excess, both when on his 
itinerant missions and on other occasions. From being; 
the smart gentlemanly banker's clerk, he had become so 
careless of his outward appearance, as to be often barely 
respectable in aspect. Clad in a " pepper and salt " suit, 
with dowlais shirt, often open at the neck, without cravat, 
and with a chip hat in hot weather carried in his hand, 

d 3 



36 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

or deposited on the top of his umbrella, whilst he paced 
vigorously along with his coat on his arm, he sometimes 
caused a sensation of amusement and surprise in those 
who met him. On one occasion, Mrs. Shillitoe being 
apprehensive that her husband would over-exert himself 
by his long walking, gave private instructions to a coach- 
man to stop his vehicle on a certain road, along which 
Thomas had started, and to importune the latter to mount 
the stage. On the coachman enquiring, " But how shall 

I know your husband from any other man, madam?" 
She replied that if he met a man unlike any other man, 

II that's my husband." Guided by this description, the 
driver recognized Mr. Shillitoe on overtaking him, and 
conveyed to him the request of his good wife, with which 
he forthwith obediently complied. 

We have heard it related of him that during one of his 
religious visits to Yorkshire, some wealthy friends, not 
personally acquainted with him, were expecting Thomas 
to take up his lodging at their house, during a certain 
gathering of their brethren. When Thomas came to the 
house, in his usual unceremonious style and appearance, 
he was presumed to be some poor rustic Friend from the 
district, and was forthwith invited into the kitchen, where 
the servants were to bring him some refreshment. He, 
perceiving his non-recognition, quietly went thither as 
requested, and afterwards at meeting his hosts were much 
surprised to find that the chief preacher on the occasion 
was their unknown kitchen friend, the expected Thomas 
Shillitoe. It may be presumed he took his next meal in 
the dining-room. 

When very far advanced in life, Thomas one day came 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 37 

into town from Tottenham, to join a deputation of Friends 
appointed to present an address to King William the 
Fourth, on his accession to the throne. As usual, Thomas 
had his coat off, but was not aware of a conspicuous hole 
in his shirt. One of the deputation promptly drew his 
attention to the condition of his under garment, and for 
that time, at least, Thomas proceeded with his coat on 
like other folks. 

His dislike of inactivity was extreme. When, on his 
journeys, he was obliged to intermit his preaching, he 
endeavoured to fill up the intervals by useful occupation. 
He sometimes carried with him a linen smock-frock, 
similar to that worn by agricultural labourers, to wear 
whilst engaged in manual employment at farm-houses 
where he might be staying. After a hard day's work at 
the unaccustomed employment of cutting oats, he mentions, 
" feeling very stiff, and being truly glad when night 
came," but adds that he believed it his duty to set an 
example of industry to the people and their preachers. 

He was as simple in his diet as in other matters. The 
last fifty years of his life he was both a teetotaler and a 
vegetarian, except as to the use of milk and eggs. The 
latter he was very fond of, and ate them raw. When on 
his pedestrian missions he would, at times, take his dinner 
by calling in at a cottage or way-side shop, where he would 
obtain some bread and a few eggs. It often excited 
amusement in the spectators when they saw him thus suck 
egg after egg uncooked. 

A recently deceased friend of Mr. Shillitoe mentioned 
that on one occasion the latter arrived late at night at his 
house, at Northampton, and, on being asked what he 



38 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

would like for supper, replied that he would prefer a bason 
of warm water and treacle. After being supplied with 
this, he retired to bed. Early next morning he started 
off before breakfast, and walked on another stage to his 
morning meal. 

The first time Thomas Shillitoe left home on a religious 
mission, was to go into Norfolk. Before starting he felt 
very uneasy at the prospect of leaving his business under 
the care of his foreman, who, although a clever workman, 
was apt at times to give much trouble by his intemperance, 
and hence had little authority over the other men, even in 
his master's presence. Therefore, in the absence of the 
latter, things might be expected to be worse. At this 
period also (1791) robberies and burglaries were frequent 
at Tottenham and elsewhere, and Mr. Shillitoe feared 
leaving his wife and young family under the careless over- 
sight of the foreman. Whilst one day pondering these 
difficulties, when in his shop cutting out work for the men, 
there came upon him a clear and impressive conviction of 
his duty, to go forth on his Gospel errand, trusting on 
the protection of his Lord. 

He states that this impression was communicated to 
him " in a language as intelligible as ever I heard words 
spoken to my outward ear," and declaring, as from the 
Lord, " I will be more than bolts and bars to thy outward 
habitation ; more than a master to my servants, for I can 
restrain their wandering minds ; more than a husband to 
thy wife, and a parent to thy infant children." Thomas 
adds that, on receiving this impression, ' ' the knife I was 
using fell out of my hand, I no longer daring to hesitate 
after such a confirmation." Forthwith in faith and 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 39 

gratitude he left home, and spent between two and three 
months in the accomplishment of his mission. On his 
return to Tottenham he found his family well, and his 
business affairs in as satisfactory a condition as if his 
personal oversight had not been withdrawn ; and he 
received from his friends assurances of the remarkable 
industry and sobriety of the foreman in his absence. A 
few days after Mr. Shillitoe's return, the latter relapsed 
into his former habits, and rambled off from his situation. 
Thomas adds, " After such evident demonstrations of the 
all- sufficiency of the superintending care of the Most 
High, what must I expect will be the sad consequences of 
unfaithfulness to Divine requirings, should it in a future 
day mark my footsteps ! " 

It was a characteristic of Mr. Shillitoe, as it is of many 
of his brother Friends, to entertain a reverential and 
faithful trust in the reality of God's superintending 
providence. He believed that, although men are governed 
by fixed laws, and although in general the Christian walks 
by faith and ' ' not by sight ' ' (or by such indubitable 
evidence as could be equivalent in clearness to outward 
sight), yet that all human actions and events are under 
the Divine control and observation. He also believed 
that, in order to ascertain the Lord's will concerning him, 
it was essential (as it certainly is to every Christian) to 
cherish daily habits of humble effort and fervent prayer, in 
addition to the reverent perusal of a the great things of 
God's law " in Holy Scripture. 

This was indeed one of the most characteristic traits of 
Thomas Shillitoe's life — his unremitting prayerfulness for 
Divine guidance and light. Whether engaged in home 



40 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

missions, or in foreign travel, he desired day by day to 
commit his way to the Lord, that He might bring it to 
pass. 

And it was equally characteristic of his preaching, that 
he always set forth the special and abiding necessity of a 
conviction of the entire weakness of man as man, and of a 
spirit of complete dependence upon God. It has been 
justly remarked by a thoughtful writer that, inasmuch as all 
men are alike sinful by nature, and possess no differences 
of virtue or superiority, except such as are the free gifts of 
God's sovereign goodness, and are entirely independent 
of any deserving qualities in the recipients, so the chief 
feature wherein Christians differ from unconverted men, 
or from each other, consists in their respective attainments 
in realizing their own absolute emptiness of good, and the 
perpetual indispensableness of consulting the laws of God 
in the Bible, and of prayer for the aid of His Spirit pur- 
chased by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. In other words, the Christian's growth in grace 
is his growth in childlike dependence upon the Lord. 
Like the ivy, " the strength it gains is from the embrace 
it gives." All fruitfulness in the religious life must spring 
from an increased taking root downwards in prayerful 
recourse to God, and an increasing experience of human 
unreliableness. This is always acknowledged by truly 
good men. They feel increasingly, as they grow in grace, 
the truth of the apostolic appeal, " What hast thou that 
thou didst not receive? " And when they behold around 
them the wickedness and ungodliness of those whose 
absence of educational and religious blessings is the 
sufficient explanation of their unfortunate condition, they 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 41 

are ready to exclaim as good John Bradford did when he 
saw a criminal being led to execution — " There, but for 
the grace of God, goes myself." Further, the really 
experienced Christian feels that past efforts will not sustain 
him in the future. He has absolutely nothing in himself 
that will remain strong for good, apart from a continued 
and ever-renewed recourse to God by prayer, by effort, and 
by the enkindling meditation on his statute law of the 
Scriptures. As the manna gathered by the Israelites was 
valueless for the morrow, as the meal of one day does not 
suffice for the next, so also, in God's appointment, each 
day must witness its own distinct search for the bread of 
life by prayer, and by the seeking of the Holy Spirit's aid, 
especially through His chosen and most honoured channel 
the thoughtful and humble use of His own written oracles. 

This great doctrine that the degree of a Christian's 
heartfelt prayerful dependence on his Lord, is also the 
precise measure of his religious growth, constituted, under 
various forms, a frequent subject of Thomas Shillitoe's 
preaching, both at home and abroad. 

Another characteristic of his ministry was the prominence 
he attached to practical religious effort. Like the Apostle 
James, he repeatedly urged that " faith without works is 
dead." Like James, too, he taught that not only must 
works spring from faith, but that also, by a striking 
exemplification of the universal law of mutual reaction, 
works increase faith. Thus it was with Abraham, " Seest 
thou not how faith wrought with his works, and by works 
was faith made perfect ." So, Thomas Shillitoe constantly 
impressed upon his hearers that it was in vain for them to 
call themselves Christians, unless they strove to obey the 



42 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

laws of their invisible but really living Lord Jesus ; and 
that if they put forth diligent efforts to act out His precepts 
of charity and zeal, they would, in precisely the same 
measure, have their sense of the actuality of Christ's 
existence increased. Further, the more they strove to 
obey His commands, the more they would feel their own 
weakness ; hence, the more they would be constrained to 
pray, and then, through prayer, they would receive more 
faith which, like every other good thing, is " the gift of 
God." So, continuing faithful and striving to the end, 
they would finally receive at Christ's appearing the 
crowning boon of all, " the gift of eternal life" by the 
power of Christ, who has promised to every believer in 
Himself, " I will raise him up at the last day." 

One other frequent subject of his preaching was the 
preciousness and indispensability of the visitations of God's 
Holy Spirit to the heart of man, by which we feel Him to 
be a living God, and a real hearer and answerer of prayer. 
We are not to expect any new revelation of His Law ; for 
this is already given in the Holy Scriptures, " that the 
man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all 
good works." Nevertheless, these sacred laws are not 
effectually realized and received with practical power into 
the heart, except by the further gift of the energizing 
influences of the Divine constraints and restraints often 
manifested to the soul. This was, throughout his life, 
clearly enforced by Thomas Shillitoe. His doctrine 
respecting it, which is that of earnest Christians in 
general, may be succinctly given in the words of a pious 
clergyman of the Church of England, viz. : — 

" The supposition that the habits and virtues of religion 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 43 

may be acquired by our own unaided efforts, proceeds on 
an entirely mistaken view of the subject. For what are 
the habits and virtues to be acquired ? They are supreme 
love to God ; an entire subjection to His will ; a lively 
faith in the Redeemer's death as an atonement for sin ; a 
profound and unfeigned humility ; a renunciation of self, 
both righteous and sinful ; and a complete mastery over 
everything prohibited by the Divine precepts. 

"But our own experience, the moral history of man- 
kind, as well as the confessions and prayers of good and 
great men in all age-s, prove that the acquirement of 
these are painful and laborious ; and if painful and 
laborious they are not natural, and if not natural it 
seems impossible to escape from the conclusion that 
Divine assistance is necessary." ("On the Nature of 
Divine Agency," by the Rev. Stephen Davies. London: 
Hatchard & Co. 1836.) 

Thomas Shillitoe preached boldly and decidedly. His 
voice was very loud, and often made the walls echo. A 
favourite phrase with him was, "Persuaded I am;" and 
this was delivered with an emphatic and positive laying 
clown of his convictions which commanded attention. He 
was especially stern in his denunciations of extravagance 
and carelessness in professing Christians. On a certain 
occasion, after one of his authoritative rebukes to a con- 
gregation in which were many wealthy Friends, one of 
them afterwards complained to him that he had ' < laid on 
hard." Thomas received the hint in a pleasant manner, 
and carefully reconsidered his address and the reasons for 
it, but adds that he felt satisfied and confirmed that it had 
been right. He remembered the words addressed on a 



44 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

similar occasion to another bold preacher by a fellow 
Quaker, an elder, who said, " Young man, 'tis soft knocks 
must enter hard blocks." " True, sometimes," was the 
response ; l i but when a tree is rotten at the heart it 
requires a few smart strokes to cause the wedge to enter, 
otherwise it rebounds again." 

Thomas Shillitoe not unfrequently administered " smart 
strokes," especially to the wealthy and indifferent; but he 
was also truly u a son of consolation" to the afflicted and 
the poor. As a sample of his bold and vigorous style, we 
may quote the following from an address issued by him to 
the Society of Friends : — 

" How many among us are pursuing their worldly 
concerns as if they counted gain godliness, and not, as 
must be the case with the true disciples and followers of 
Christ, godliness, with contentment, to be the greatest 
riches (1 Tim. vi. 5,6); proclaiming in the language of 
conduct, that all is fish that comes to their net, regarding 
neither quantity nor quality, so there be a prospect of a 
good profit attached to it. Oh ! these professing world- 
lings, who say they are Jews, and are not, but whose 
fruits testify they are of the synagogue of Satan, I have 
been persuaded have been the greatest enemies to the 
spreading of our religious principles, and the enlargement 
of our borders ; those who maintain a uniform consistent 
warfare against the Babylonish garment (Joshua vi. 21), 
but, with all their might, grasp at the wedge of gold, and 
aim at making a splendid appearance in their way of 
living." 

11 We may be active in Society concerns, and yet 
strangers to this religious exercise, without which we 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 45 

cannot become helpers in the Lord's cause, and lights in 
the world." 

11 It is my belief the day of the Lord is coming upon 
every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that 
is ' lifted up, and he shall be brought low ; and upon all 
the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and 
upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high moun- 
tains, and upon all the hills that are lifted, and upon 
every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon 
all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.' 
(Isaiah ii. 12-16.) 

"You must be willing, mothers and children, to 
examine closely the mode and circumstances of your ex- 
penditure, with a mind made up to relieve, as far as in 
you lies, the head of the family, who may have both wind 
and tide to contend with. Search your houses, search 
your tables, search your garments ; and, where any ex- 
pense can be spared without lessening your real comforts, 
seek for holy help to rid the vessel of it. I am well 
aware it will require holy help to take such steps. Eegard 
not the world's dread laugh. 

" And, Friends, you that are of ability of body, learn 
to wait more upon yourselves, and bring your children to 
do the like. I find I am never better waited on than 
when I wait upon myself. Teach your children industry 
and a well-regulated economy ; for. next to a truly pious 
example, you cannot bestow upon your children a better 
portion. Suitable employment, under the influence of an 
all-wise Creator, is salutary both for mind and body, and 
qualifies us the better to feel for, and proportion labour to, 



46 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

those who may be placed under us. And where this 
well-regulated industry and economy are wanting, and 
idleness and fulness of bread prevail, how little is to be 
observed in the conduct of such, of reverential thank- 
fulness for the bounties they are receiving from 
heaven. 

" When we are content to move in this humble sphere, 
we are prepared the better to meet such reverses as may 
come upon us. Let none among us say in his heart I am 
out of the reach of reverses, because none are out of the 
reach of them ; for, however variously our outward sub- 
stance may be secured, all sublunary things are unstable as 
the waters." 

Thomas Shillitoe's ministry abundantly illustrated that 
characteristic of Christianity, " to the poor the Gospel is 
preached." Very much of his religious effort was directed 
towards this class. Thus, in the autumn of 1812, having 
been informed of the squalid and neglected condition of 
the Kingswood colliers, near Bristol, he left his com- 
fortable home, and spent several weeks in arduous, perse- 
vering visitation of these poor creatures from cottage to 
cottage. He directed special attention to a numerous 
band of thieves and housebreakers amongst them, who 
went by the name of " the gang," and whose ranks for 
many years supplied the prisons and the gallows of Glou- 
cestershire with a constant supply of criminal subjects. 
His heart felt tenderly for the many widows and orphans 
in this district, whose husbands and fathers had lost their 
lives in their dangerous labours. " Killed in the pit, 
sir," " killed in the pit, sir," was the repeated reply to 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 47 

his enquiries as to what had become of the head of the 
family in many of the cottages he visited.* 

During the visits of Mr. Shillitoe and his companion to 
the colliers, the latter, although their black and grimy 
faces gave them a repulsive look, evinced much serious- 

* Colliery Accidexts. — Of late years the British public has 
been, from time to time, appalled by the enormous loss of life con- 
sequent upon colliery explosions. Thus, at the catastrophe at the 
Hartley Pit, near Newcastle, " upwards of two hundred bodies were 
brought to the surface, and distributed amongst the widows and 
mothers of the pitman's village." Double as many deaths occurred 
at the terrific explosion at the Oaks Colliery, near Barnsley, in 
December, 1866. On these and other occasions the national sym- 
pathies were roused to noble efforts for the bereaved survivors. 
But in many other instances, where the loss of life has been less 
noticeable, there has been no special provision made for the sufferers. 
In a letter recently addressed to a public journal by Mr. W. M. 
Wilkinson, of Lincoln' s-inn Fields, it is stated that in the ten years 
years ending 1860, 9090 lives of miners were lost in the collieries. 
During those ten years 605,154,940 tons of coal were raised, so that 
one person was killed for each 66,573 tons of coal raised from the 
pits. Since 1860 the loss of life in this manner appears to have 
increased. It may fairly be assumed that at least one thousand 
lives are annually sacrificed in obtaining the coal for our comfortable 
firesides and gas-lamps. 

Mr. Wilkinson suggests the levying of a slight tax upon every 
colliery to form a permanently available fund for the relief of the 
families whose supporters perish in the works. Taking one life for 
every 66,573 tons of coal as the statistical basis for calculating the 
requisite fund to be raised, Mr. Wilkinson estimates that the average 
imposition on each colliery would be about £15 per pit. An officer 
to be appointed by the Board of Trade might manage the collection 
and distribution. Such a system would, it is believed, tend to render 
owners and workmen more careful and vigilant, and would provide 
timely relief for the survivors of persons sacrificed in the ordinary 
and comparatively unnoticed accidents of every year, as well as for 
the specially sensational occurrences. 



48 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

ness, and respectfully received the sympathizing counsels 
extended to them. The energy displayed by the good 
Friends in looking up the objects of their interest was 
most persevering. Thus, in passing over a common on 
his way to some cottages, Mr. Shillitoe espied two men 
catching birds, a favourite pastime with " the gang ;" but 
the latter, seeing a stranger coming after them, speedily 
made off, as if afraid of apprehension. Thomas put on 
speed, too, and presently overtook the elder of the couple, 
who, being an old man, was unable to climb over a high 
gate in his way with sufficient quickness to escape. He 
was now kindly invited to step into a cottage, and listen 
to the address of the good Friends. His companion also 
must be brought in if possible. The latter had been seen 
to enter a house which had no back door, and from which 
it was therefore certain he could not have again left 
without observation. But on Thomas making enquiry 
there, a woman boldly denied that any man had entered. 
On being again urged to call him, and seriously warned 
against the sin of falsehood, she at length called out several 
times, " Richard, come down stairs !" but no response 
being given, Mr. Shillitoe also called out, adding that he 
must come up and fetch Richard down, if the latter did 
not make his appearance. At length Thomas went boldly 
upstairs, and found "a large-boned hale young man" 
crouching down behind the head of a bed. Thomas would 
have been nothing in his hands had the gangsman been 
permitted to assault him. But the worthy Friend took 
him by the collar, told him he wanted his company down- 
stairs, and sent him on before him to the chimney corner, 
where he quietly seated himself, and listened attentively 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 49 

to the exhortations of his bold visitor, of whom, on part- 
ing, he took leave in a kind and grateful manner, afford- 
ing some ground for hope that real good had been effected 
in the case. In his instance, as with very many others of 
" the gang," he had been early trained to crime by his 
father. 

Another work of love which, in the year 1813, claimed 
Thomas Shillitoe's Christian zeal, was a series of visits to 
the widows and orphans of seventeen men who had just 
been hanged at York for conspiracy and riotous violence 
against the users of machinery in the neighbourhood of 
Huddersfield. These misguided men, not having learnt 
that machinery tends to increase labour in a greater 
degree eventually than its immediate diminution, had 
gone the length of murdering one of the manufacturers 
in. addition to a wholesale destruction of property. 

A wide -spread feeling of terror and insecurity ensued, 
and to restore order it was deemed necessary to inflict the 
extreme penalty of the law on the miserable offenders. 
In the course of the visits to the sorrowing relatives of 
these, Mr. Shillitoe's sympathies were profoundly moved 
by the heartrending narratives of grief and desolation 
which, from house to house, he had to listen to. Thus 
the wife of a young man who had been dragged into the 
conspiracy, and whose execution had left her a widow 
with a helpless infant to provide for, stated that the night 
her husband was arrested, he had been forced out of bed 
by the gang, who had hurried him away with them to the 
work of destruction. The terrified young woman, half 
clad, ran a long distance after her husband, imploring him 
to return ; but his infuriated companions drove her back, 

E 



50 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

threatening to blow her brains out if she persisted in her 
entreaties. Before his untimely death he became penitent, 
and died in humble contrition for his sins, and with a 
heartfelt hope of experiencing the mercy of Christ here- 
after. And, doubtless, such hopes were not to be dis- 
appointed. For our Lord Jesus Christ, " the image of 
the invisible God," pre-eminently set forth to men His 
great attributes of justice and mercy. In dealing with 
poor erring creatures, " born in sin and shapen in iniquity," 
mercy becomes an inseparable element of true justice. The 
merits of the glorious Cross of Jesus flow broadly over the 
multitude of penitent and suppliant ones who, like the 
serpent- bitten Israelites in their wilderness misery, look 
with yearning eyes towards the infinite love of the Holy 
One, who, in view of His own voluntary and Divine sacri- 
fice, exclaimed, " I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men 
unto Me." And in the coming ages of His Kingdom, it 
will, we may rest confidently assured, be manifested that 
the sacred light and life radiating, thenceforth for ever, 
from His " great white throne " will include within their 
influences many who, like the dying thief on Calvary, have 
even at the eleventh hour, in heartfelt repentance and 
fervent prayer stretched forth suppliant hands towards the 
free gift of mercy purchased by the sufferings and love of 
Christ the Eedeemer. 

As another illustration of the zeal and industry which 
characterized Thomas Shillitoe's labours for the good of 
individuals, as well as of groups and communities, the 
following case may be mentioned. He had felt much 
regret at the obstinacy of a person who, in a distant part 
of England, persisted in cherishing a spirit of bitterness 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 51 

in connection with a private quarrel which ought long 
previously to have been terminated. Mr. Shillitoe was 
about to start for a long continental journey, but could 
not comfortably quit England until he had made an effort 
towards effecting the reconciliation of this individual with 
the parties from whom he kept himself estranged. He 
therefore left home in quest of the delinquent. On quitting 
the stage he had thirty miles to walk. It was a cold 
winter day, and deep snow covered the ground ; but Mr. 
Shillitoe persevered in his pursuit until he reached his 
destination, where, to his extreme disappointment, he 
ascertained that the object of his search had a few days 
previously quitted his residence for a place sixty miles off. 
But thither Thomas determined to follow him, and, after 
three days' additional travel, succeeded in obtaining an 
interview, and urging his friendly counsels of peace. It 
does not appear whether or not this Christian endeavour 
was wholly successful ; but, at any rate, it was courteously 
received, and afforded hearty satisfaction to the good man 
who, at so much cost of personal ease and of valuable 
time, exerted himself in its performance. 




e 2 



52 



CHAPTEK IV. 

HIS FOREIGN MISSIONS. 

SERIOUS PROSPECT OF EXTENSIVE TRAVEL AT HIS ADVANCED 
AGE — THE PROVINCE OF REASON — THE HICKSITES — BREAKS 
UP HIS HOME— FIVE CHIEF OBJECTS OF EFFORT— DAILY 
BREATHING-TIMES OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE— ECONOMY OF 
EFFORT — HIS CHEERFULNESS AND PLEASANTNESS — HIS 
GALLANTRY — LOCKED UP AT ALTONA — HONOURED AT 
HAMBURG— MISHAPS OF DANISH TRAVEL— SUCCESS AT 
COPENHAGEN — A BLACK GUIDE — NEW YEAR'S FESTIVITIES 
IN NORWAY — MAGNIFICENT SCENERY — PRUSSIA AND 
GERMANY — A FRIENDS' MEETING CONDUCTED UNDER DIFFI- 
CULTIES — DUMB ELOQUENCE— HOME THROUGH SWITZERLAND 
AND FRANCE. 

After many years of arduous Christian effort in Great 
Britain and Ireland, Thomas Shillitoe, in 1821, at the 
advanced age of sixty-seven, undertook a series of extensive 
missionary efforts on the continent of Europe ; and, at a 
still later period, crossed the Atlantic to labour in America 
also. 

It was a very serious prospect indeed to the venerable 
minister of Christ so to devote himself, and at that period 
of life, to such an enterprise. He thus speaks of his con- 
templation of the duty : — " When I am led to take a view 
of the accumulated difficulties that I must expect in the 
prosecution of the work before me, my soul is humbled 
and bowed within me as into the very dust ; whereby my 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 53 

mind at times became sorrowfully charged with, an appre- 
hension I should not have strength to proceed agreeably 
to the expectation I had given my friends, and thereby 
shamefully expose myself. But Divine Goodness appeared 
for my help with this animating assurance, that if I re- 
mained willing to become like a cork on the mighty ocean 
of service which my great Master should require of me, in 
the storm and in the calm, free from the lead of human 
reason, not consulting and conferring with flesh and blood, 
willing to be wafted hither and thither as the Spirit of the 
Lord my God should blow upon me, He would care for 
me every day and every way ; so that there should be no 
lack of strength to encounter all my difficulties. Here 
my discouragements vanished.' ! 

In this beautiful and touching acknowledgment of entire 
dedication to his Lord, and of child-like absolute trust 
upon His guidance, there is one indication of a conclusion 
which will not bear the test of experience and scriptural 
examination, viz., the requirement to be " free from the 
lead of human reason." 

Reason is one of God's most precious gifts to man. It 
is, confessedly, insufficient, apart from revelation and 
spiritual influences, to guide into salvation, as the history 
of the most enlightened nations of antiquity abundantly 
proves. But, so far as its province extends, it is precious 
and indispensable. Without it we should be mere machines, 
moved as by mechanical impulse, and incapable of receiving 
moral or religious development, as in the case of idiots. 
Without it there would be no meaning in the command of 
Christ, " Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye 
have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me." 



54 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

Without it even religious impulses would be dishonoured 
to the level of mere instinctive motions such as those 
which impel the beaver in the construction of its dam, or 
the swallow in the season of its migration. Without it, 
moral freedom and intelligent loving choice of God and 
of Christ would be impossible. Without it, man would 
abide in a state of everlasting infancy, — innocent perhaps, 
but by no means righteous, or loving, or grateful, or 
humble, or patient, or faithful, or just, — for all these 
qualities require the exercise and the conclusions of reason 
and of experimental reflection. 

Eeason has pre-eminently its use in the religious life. 
The author of the work on "Divine Agency," already 
quoted, aptly remarks, — " The office of reason clearly is, 
to examine the claims of the Scriptures to inspiration ; to 
ascertain by every possible means the genuine sense of their 
contents ; and then to bow implicitly to their authority as 
to that from which there lies no appeal." 

It might be added, that although reason helps us to 
examine and to understand the precepts of Kevelation, she 
can never create revelation, nor is she sufficient to furnish 
us with the dispositions and the spiritual forces sufficient 
to enable us to act upon even her own directions. The 
most talented men, aided by reason, but not having the 
further gifts of Christ and of His Holy Spirit, have had 
oftentimes to confess with helpless humiliation that they 
" See the right, and yet the wrong pursue." 

And so it ever will be. Reason is an instrument for the 
use and management of the material afforded by revelation ; 
but it is not the material itself, neither is it even the 
exclusive or sufficient instrument for the purpose. 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 55 

The particular and distinctive operations for which God 
has endowed man with reason, can in general only be 
performed by it ; for God honours all His own gifts. Just 
as we are not to expect any special revelation to inform us 
of the existence or nature of the objects which our outward 
senses are already given us to manifest, so also it is vain 
to expect that the Lord's Spirit will require us to neglect 
or ignore that precious gift of reason which He himself 
has in His gracious wisdom conferred on us for use, and 
not for disuse. 

In like manner, also, it is not to be expected that the 
Holy Spirit will ever reveal to man, separately from the 
Scriptures, " the great things of His law," which He has 
already manifested in that sacred gift of the Bible. 

Yet, good Thomas Shillitoe, on precisely the same 
principle which led him at times to neglect the use of 
reason, sometimes also expressed himself in terms which 
led to misconstructions, derogatory to the honour which 
God has placed upon His own blessed Scriptures, the chief 
and clearest oracles of His Spirit, Hence, when he visited 
America and came amongst the Hicksites, a sect of persons 
who had separated from the Friends through their extreme 
assertion of this very principle, the non-indispensability of 
Holy Scripture, and the sufficiency of the Spirit's guidance 
apart from them, he was troubled by the public statements 
of these mistaken men concerning himself. For they 
claimed him at first as an adherent of their own mis- 
chievous views. Indeed, at a meeting in Long Island, 
habitually ministered to by Elias Hicks, the founder of 
that body of separatists from Quakerism which still bears 
his name, after listening to a sermon by Thomas Shillitoe, 



5Q THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

the former arose, and, highly commending the communi- 
cation of the aged English minister, added, " I appeal to 
this assembly if it is not the same doctrine that ye have 
heard these many years past." Hicks also invited Thomas 
to take up his abode with him. 

The occurrence of this sad heresy amongst the Friends 
in America, was overruled for good to their English 
brethren, who have since proclaimed, more clearly than 
ever before, the preciousness of the Holy Scriptures, their 
authority as the alone fixed standard of Christian truth r 
and the paramount value of the atonement of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, which blessed sacrifice the Hicksites 
disparaged. 

In actual life, however, even in his religious movements,. 
Thomas Shillitoe was far too shrewd practically to act as 
if "free from the lead of human reason." He weighed 
and considered his prospects long and carefully, took 
frequent counsel with his friends and acquaintances, prayed 
earnestly for God's overruling direction, and then, whilst 
proceeding in his efforts, still continued his vigilance and 
consultation and prayer. This explanation is needful, as 
some of his expressions are, occasionally, from their 
ambiguity, open to misinterpretation. 

Before starting for his extensive Continental labours in 
1821, he had to make great sacrifices, which, with much 
simplicity and beautiful Christian faith, he thus records : — 
" I took leave of my dear wife, now in the seventy-fifth 
year of her age, the most trying parting we ever ex- 
perienced. I left her under the care of one of our 
daughters, and then proceeded to my cottage at Highbury, 
near Hitchin, which must either be kept shut up during 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 57 

my long absence, or parted with ; but duty pointed to my 
parting with the cottage and furniture. My cottage to 
me had possessed many charms. I had laboured and 
toiled to make it a comfortable abode for our declining 
years, hoping to have kept it for our residence, until we 
should be taken to the house appointed for all living. 
Nature had many stragglings to endure before it made 
that free-will offering called for ; but, believing it would 
be the most effectual way to have my mind freed from 
worldly cares, I yielded. So does the Most High work 
in us, and for us, as we are willing to devote ourselves to 
Him ; then He fails not to make the hard things easy, and 
sweetens the bitter cup of self-denial. The way opened 
for my getting quit of all, in a manner I never looked for ; 
and, feeling thus loosened from this earthly shackle, I made 
the necessary preparations for my journey." 

Thomas Shillitoe's foreign labours, like his home efforts, 
were mainly directed to -Rye objects, viz. : — 1. Personal 
interviews with monarchs and dignitaries, in order to 
impress upon their minds an increased sense of the serious 
responsibilities of their position. 2. The right observance 
of the Sabbath. 3. The promotion of temperance, and 
the discouragement of official facilities for drunkenness. 
4. The visitation of prisoners. 5. The encouragement of 
conscientious individuals, and of small communities of 
religious persons anxious respecting their relations to the 
Lord and to eternity. 

As several of the above classes of efforts will be noticed 
separately in another portion of this work, we may here 
confine ourselves to some of the general aspects and most 
striking details of Mr. Shillitoe's missionary travels. 



58 



THOMAS SHILLITOE, 



During his visits to interesting localities, the one great 
purpose of his mission — to do good — was kept to with 
remarkable singleness of eye. When pressed to visit 
palaces and picture galleries, or even to turn aside to 
witness special natural wonders, Mr. Shillitoe would 
courteously but firmly reply that he must be about his 
Master's business, for the time was short, his life far 
advanced, the work abundant, and the labourers in it very 
few. 

His, too, was the vigilant eye for casual opportunities of 
usefulness, for the word " in season and out of season ; ,r 
for the dispersion of the wayside seed, " here a little, and 
there a little." When travelling in the slow canal boats 
in Holland he distributed tracts, and relinquished the more 
comfortable saloon deck for the unpleasant tobacco-fumes 
of the close steerage, where he sought and found occasion 
for religious conversation with individuals and groups 
amongst the humbler passengers. 

Similarly, when crossing the Atlantic, he used to invite 
his fellow- voyagers to assemble for reading the Scriptures 
and for collective worship, in which he abundantly preached 
the Gospel to them. 

At meal-times he often availed himself of opportunities 
for useful and suggestive religious remarks. He earnestly 
advocated the habit of assembling families for the daily 
reading of the Scriptures, and recommended an habitual 
pause before or after the reading, to afford facility for 
silent or vocal prayer, and for serious reflection. Such 
pauses are often observed in the family Bible readings 
amongst the Friends. When they are not merely momen- 
tary and formal in their duration, but long enough for real 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 59 

usefulness (as, for instance, five or ten minutes), they 
furnish most valuable " times of refreshing" for the 
spiritual needs of daily life. Thomas Shillitoe prized such 
pauses very highly. He used to say that they were 
acceptable feeding times for the soul, and that, feeling his 
need for all the religious strength he could obtain, he 
thankfully embraced these quiet breathing times amid the 
turmoil and exigencies of week- day engagements. Of 
course special rest, reflection, and edification on the 
Sabbath are most essential ; but very beneficial also are 
these fragments of Sabbatic refreshment, when secured for 
distribution throughout the busy course of the six days 
following. 

The writer has often recurred, with much satisfaction, 
to some time spent in a large household in Yorkshire, 
where the head habitually assembled the family twice every 
day for the reading of the Scriptures, and accompanied it, 
on each occasion, with from five to ten minutes' silence. 
The serious reflections and feelings of those daily gatherings 
were often highly beneficial to those who assembled, and 
greatly increased the improvement of the portions read. 
But merely reading the Bible, without having or taking 
opportunity for reflection and prayer, is of little, if any, 
real value for the actual and practical wants of the life of 
the soul. 

Thomas Shillitoe, both at home and abroad, gave 
attention to the economy of religious and moral effort ; that 
is to say, he directed special labour where it would be likely 
to produce the most extensive and abiding results. He 
took special interest in benefiting ministers, teachers, and 
all persons having much influence on the minds of others. 



60 

It has been said that every theological student is a legion 
in himself, so far as regards influence for good or for evil ; 
at least, it is often so. Those who form the character of 
ministers, teachers, and public instructors, also form the 
characters of multitudes beside. So Mr. Shillitoe felt, and 
therefore laboured with special assiduity and prayer for 
the souls of such. For the good of young and, as yet, 
unformed minds, he also earnestly strove. 

His favourable reception amongst strangers was greatly 
facilitated by the homeliness and outspoken heartiness of 
his manner, and by his unaffected cheerfulness. Like 
his intimate friend, the well known Peter Bedford,* 
he was a notable example of a person " good, without 
being disagreeable.' ' When in Holland he received a 
letter from a worthy sensible woman of that country, in 
which she wrote: — "I am glad that Providence brought 
you into this country and to our town ; and I hope that 
your way of discoursing with so much freeness and open- 
ness, will prove that the idea which is common amongst 
our Dutch people, that all Quakers are stiff people, will be 
taken away ; and that the way in which you speak about 
religion will prove to them that though you are convinced 
that, in our speaking and not speaking, we are dependent 
on the Spirit of God, and we must always be looking to 
His influence, yet this makes none fanatics." 

Thomas Shillitoe and Peter Bedford were both men of 
much humour. At times their cheerful spirits were even 

* For an account of this very remarkable man, see a work 
published by S. W. Partridge, 9, Paternoster Kow, London, 
entitled " Peter Bedford, the Sjpitalfields Philanthropist" price 
2s. 6d. 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 61 

exuberant, and they seemed to take a delight in astonish- 
ing and good-temperedly shocking the unbending gravity 
of their Quaker compeers of the last generation, the 
unsympathetic stiffness of some of whom often obtained 
for their sect the estimation which the worthy Dutch- 
woman alluded to. Shillitoe would sometimes make the 
good Friends start by suddenly appearing amongst a group 
of them with a slap on the back of some one ; and, on 
turning quickly around to see the disturber, there would 
appear the smiling face, bright eyes, and Roman nose of 
the dapper little Thomas. His friend Peter often indulged 
in similar fraternal freedoms. 

Thomas, plain and homely as he was, was a great 
favourite with the women- folk, and, in his way, was 
exemplarily gallant and polite, especially to poor and 
hard-working females. His gallantry was like that of 
the courtly senator, who seeing, in Covent Garden Market, 
an Irishwoman striving in vain to raise a heavy basket on 
her shoulders, promptly lifted it for her, and received for 
thanks — " You're a rale gintleman, you are." 

During his travels in Norway, Mr. Shillitoe on one 
occasion had been provided with two women to run beside 
his curricle, and take care of it and the horses, on a very 
rugged mountain route. The journey was peculiarly 
arduous ; and the women were agreeably surprised when 
the good foreigner persisted in taking his turn with them 
in leading the horses, so as to allow of their riding. In 
mentioning the circumstance, he adds, "I believe we 
suffer ourselves to be plundered of much of that peace 
which a beneficent Almighty Creator designs for us in 
this life, through yielding to a selfish disposition of mind, 



62 

and an unwillingness to take our share with others in the 
difficulties and inconveniences of life. Oh ! may I ever 
remain willing that my luxuries in life may be given up in 
order to supply others' wants or comforts ; and my com- 
forts at times be given up to supply others' want of 
necessaries ; and that even my necessaries, at times, may 
be given up to relieve the extreme distress of others, is 
what I crave, from the assurance that such conduct is 
consistent with the true Christian character." 

On another occasion, when on a pedestrian mission in 
the South of Ireland, Thomas saw on the road before him 
a party of men and women going to market. An impres- 
sion came over his mind that he ought to give them some 
good counsel. On overtaking the company he introduced 
his discourse by some cheerful remarks on the want of 
gallantry in Ireland, where the woman were left to carry 
the bundles and follow, whilst the men walked indepen- 
dently in front ; whereas, he added, the latter ought to 
take the bundles, and offer their arms to the former. This 
discourse pleased the women much, and opened the way 
for a more general exhortation. 

After traversing Holland, Mr. Shillitoe proceeded to 
Altona and Hamburg. Here he got into trouble, and for 
the first and last time in his life was taken into custody 
and locked up. Having observed with deep grief the 
general desecration of the Sabbath, and the prevalence of 
public immorality in the two towns, he drew up two 
earnest addresses to their inhabitants. These he sent to 
England to be printed, and on receiving a sufficient supply 
of copies, proceeded personally to deliver them in Altona, 
and also engaged three men to assist in the work of dis- 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 63 

tribution there and in Hamburg. Whilst thus engaged, 
a young man of gentlemanly manners and appearance 
accosted him, and asked to be favoured with one of the 
documents he was issuing. On receiving it, and after 
some general conversation, he suddenly informed Mr. 
Shillitoe that it was his painful duty to arrest him and 
take him to the guard-house. Here Thomas was taken 
in charge by a police officer, and locked up till the next 
day in a cold, comfortless place, the stone floor of which 
was wet and very muddy. He requested permission to 
write to his friends in the town, but the favour was 
refused ; neither was he permitted to send to his lodgings 
for his overcoat. A soldier, off duty, seeing the forlorn 
condition of the good Friend, took pity on him, and lent 
him his great- coat till his hour of duty came, when it 
had to be parted with, leaving Thomas more chilly than 
ever. When night arrived, some of his acquaintances, 
who had missed him, ascertained where he was, and came 
to offer themselves as bail for his re-appearance next day, 
if permitted to return to his lodgings for the night only. 
This was refused, and the prisoner was locked up in his 
place, with the prospect of the dirty wet floor to lie on. 
But better treatment was ultimately conceded, and his 
friends were permitted to bring him something hot for 
supper, two overcoats, and two chairs to lie on. Thus 
provided, he passed the night in comparative comfort. 
He writes, " My spirit was free, and far removed from the 
molestation of the police-master." Next morning his 
assiduous friends sent him a good breakfast of chocolate 
and cake, after which he was marched off to the police- 
master's court. That functionary, however, appeared 



64 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

much embarrassed with his prisoner's case, and continued 
to pace backwards and forwards, muttering to himself, a 
considerable time, whilst he kept Thomas waiting. At 
length he announced that, from respect to the position of 
the friends of the latter in Hamburg, he should discharge 
him, and thus the good man was speedily released from 
his durance vile. 

The addresses could not have been really objectionable, 
or in any way injudicious, inasmuch as two days after his 
discharge by the chief police-officer of Altona, the prin- 
cipal magistrate of Hamburg, on whom Mr. Shillitoe now 
waited, told him that he had read each of the addresses 
with much satisfaction, and added, " You have done our 
city a great kindness by their circulation ; I have no 
doubt but, in time, fruits will appear ; but the amendment 
so necessary amongst us must be a gradual work." He 
further, speaking for himself and the other authorities of 
Hamburg, said, " Take up your abode with us at Ham- 
burg; we esteem your character and motives for coming 
amongst us, assured, as we are, of the purity of your 
intentions, and that nothing but true love could have 
influenced you to have done as you have done : you 
needed no certificate from your friends ; you have already 
given us the best certificate yourself." 

The same day Thomas walked back to Altona, where 
he found that his arrest had drawn general attention to 
his address, much more so than would otherwise have been 
the case ; so that his temporary annoyance was overruled 
for much good. Next day he called on the Governor of 
Altona, who had been absent from the town at the time 
of his arrest, and who now courteously apologized to him 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 65 

for the occurrence. The pastor of one of the principal 
churches there made the address the subject of a sermon, 
confirming the truth of its statements, and expressing 
deep regret that a foreigner should have found occasion 
to call the inhabitants to so just an account for their 
wickedness. 

After some further religious labour in Hamburg, Thomas 
Shillitoe proceeded to Copenhagen and other parts of 
Denmark. Here he underwent much inconvenience from 
the tempestuous rainy weather, and from his ignorance of 
any language but English. At one place, after a fast of 
many hours, he arrived at a tavern, where he requested 
some hot milk to mix with a bottle of thick chocolate he 
had brought in his pocket. Weak with the long fast, he 
reeled against a table, and smashed the bottle, the con- 
tents of which flowed through and over his dress, by no 
means improving his appearance. The woman of the 
house stared stupidly at her visitor, but offered no assist- 
ance to help him in his muddle. As he had no other suit 
of clothes, he was anxious speedily to cleanse them, and, 
making signs to be conducted to the kitchen, there pro- 
cured some water, with which he managed to remove part 
of the greasy mess from his garments. 

TThilst waiting for some more breakfast he observed a 
person tying up his carpet-bag and trunk with tape, and 
innocently supposed that the latter having perhaps fallen 
open, the stranger was kindly refastening it for him. 
But presently he ascertained that his luggage, having been 
now sealed with the custom-house seal, was to be taken 
from him until he reached Kiel, where it would be 
examined. 



6$ 



A week or two afterwards Mr. Shillitoe was in Copen- 
hagen, and in the course of some arrangements for a 
religious interview with the King of Denmark, the Prime 
Minister, observing the greasy condition of his clothes, 
very naturally exclaimed with astonishment, c l You do not 
mean to appear before His Majesty in those clothes, do 
you?" Thomas, with his usual honest simplicity, re- 
marked that he had no others with him, that his summer 
garments were left at Altona, and he was about to procure 
winter ones on his arrival in Norway. The Count smiled. 
But Thomas went before the King, and, in spite of soiled 
garments, had an interview very interesting and satis- 
factory both to the monarch and his humble visitor. 

In the same clothes also, Thomas had very agreeable 
interviews with the Queen and Princesses of Denmark. 

His reception at Copenhagen amply compensated for 
the " sore bones and bruised flesh" which his rough 
journey thither had inflicted on him. 

The contemplation of winter travel in Sweden and Nor- 
way was to him a very serious matter. But faith sustained 
him in a cheerful hope and prayerful trust ; and he wrote, 
■ " I must be content to live one day at a time, avoiding all 
unnecessary anxiety about the morrow." 

He now advertised for a courier, acquainted with Nor- 
wegian and Swedish travel, to conduct him to Christiania, 
but could obtain no one except a rogue of a black man, 
whose character was as dark as his skin. Thomas records 
that this was " as wicked, dark a spirit as I ever before 
had met with." At their first interview, his terms were 
so exorbitant, and his appraisement of his own virtues so 
high, that he was dismissed for the present. Meanwhile, 



THE QUAKER MISSION AB Y. 67 

no one else could be heard of. The season was advancing, 
and a speedy start was necessary. Mr. Shillitoe pondered 
the matter very seriously. He remembered how God had 
cared for him when he first left his home on a Gospel 
mission, and how the drunken foreman had then been 
temporarily constrained to extraordinary carefulness and 
efficiency. So it might be now, if prayer and faith were 
exercised. The Lord could restrain this evil guide from 
doing mischief to his employer. At length, very reluc- 
tantly, the negro was engaged ; and during the ten days 
of travel which elapsed between Copenhagen and Chris- 
tiania, although he manifested himself as a drunken, 
swearing, and dishonest fellow, yet eventually things 
turned out much better than might have been expected. 
On the route they had also many difficulties to encounter, 
owing to the deep snow, thick fogs, rugged routes, and 
intense cold. Thus (in Sweden) they frequently broke 
their harness, many times in a day, and lost their linch- 
pins. The latter casualty, however, was speedily remedied 
whenever it occurred, by the driver substituting a stick 
from the hedge, and proceeding, with no apparent fear of 
danger, close to the edge of steep precipices and deep 
waters. Thomas was very glad, indeed, to reach Chris - 
tiania, and so get quit of his vicious and miserable con- 
ductor. He notes that immediately after his arrival there 
the heavy rains set in, which were followed by hard 
frosts, which rendered the route he had just arrived by 
no longer passable. He, therefore, very reasonably [ con- 
sidered that his procedure had been providentially timed 
and ruled. 

In Christiania and other places in Norway, Thomas 



68 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

Shillitoe paid a number of visits to ministers, students, 
and persons of influence, also to tbe criminals in prison. 
Being in Christiania during tbe festivities of New Year's 
Day, bis quiet was mucb disturbed, even in bis lodgings, 
by tbe numerous persons wbo came to visit tbe bouse. 
He, tberefore, withdrew bimself to a solitary apartment, 
but tbere bis tranquillity was rudely broken in upon by a 
rusb of roystering masqueraders, who burst in upon him, 
and for a time produced a scene of uproarious jollity, 
which Thomas (understanding neither their language nor 
customs) regarded with dumb disgust and pity. He was 
much grieved at the prevalence in Norway of Sabbath 
dancing parties, a custom defended and united in by many 
even of the Lutheran clergy. 

The magnificent scenery of Norway naturally excited 
his profound admiration, and, contrary to his usual 
custom, he inserted in bis memoranda in that country, 
occasional expressions of his appreciation of its beauties, 
praising " the stupendous mountains, rising one above 
the other to the clouds, — a vast expanse of sea in pros- 
pect, in different directions, — the sun warming the earth 
with his silvery beams, and scarcely a cloud to be seen in 
the bold horizon, — the numerous land and water fowls 
appearing in the full enjoyment of those blessings their 
beneficent Creator has bestowed upon them." Elsewhere 
he writes of a place named Devick, near Lundale, " A 
more beautiful retreat from the hurries of this world I 
thought I never before bad met with. I could not but 
persuade myself I might be warranted, in degree, in com- 
paring it with the abode of our first parents, — beautifully 
wooded and watered, abounding with birds of various 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 69 

kinds, whose shrill and melodious voices echoed in the 
air ; the ground also appeared so fertile as not to require 
much labour to produce food for the inhabitants and their 
cattle ; but I had not explored its inhabitants. When 
this took place, I do not know that I was ever more 
disgusted at any time of my life, than with the slothful 
appearance of the inhabitants, our captain's family ex- 
cepted, both in their houses and their land, but, above all, 
in their persons." Mr. Shillitoe with difficulty had these 
slothful folks gathered together ; and he then preached 
to them a thoroughly practical, vigorous, plain-spoken 
sermon, telling them his sorrow at their indolence and 
neglect, and enforcing on them the duties of industry and 
cleanliness, and especially of bringing up their children in 
tidy and active habits. The people listened attentively, 
but were densely crowded, to the annoyance of Mr. Shilli- 
toe, who remarks, "We were obliged to pack very close 
together. My next neighbour was so frequently rubbing 
and scratching herself during the meeting, my mind was 
for a time somewhat disturbed by it, expecting I should 
have some of the company that were the cause of her 
exertions." 

Of one of the numerous fiords, he records, " Our pas- 
sage up the river Seroog was awfully grand ; in some 
places the pass was so straight between the rocks that we 
barely made our way along ; in other places the huge 
mass of rock appeared suspended above our heads as if 
ready to fall, many pieces of the same lying in the river." 

From Norway Mr. Shillitoe proceeded to Prussia and 
other parts of Germany, where he had interviews with 
many persons in authority, and held religious meetings 



70 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

with companies of serious individuals. One of these was 
held under circumstances of peculiar disadvantage, for a 
meeting commencing with silence, after the usual manner 
of the Friends. It was at a farm-house, where the most 
suitable place for such a gathering was in the large 
entrance hall in the centre of the establishment, and 
around which were ranged stalls for the cattle, above 
which ran a gallery containing the apartments of the 
family. In the stalls were a horse, a cow, calves, pigs, a 
goat, and poultry. These manifesting no indications of 
quietness, but the reverse, the visitor at first inclined to 
relinquish the idea of a meeting ; but as a company had 
assembled, and as there was no better place (it being 
rainy and muddy out of doors), they endeavoured to 
settle down. He describes it thus, "We took our seats 
together ; soon after which the cow put out her head, and 
gave a loud bellow, and the pigs and geese became very 
noisy. This interruption to our quiet continued for some 
time, when, to my great surprise, all at once became 
quiet, as much so as if there had not been a living crea- 
ture near beside ourselves ; which quiet continued until 
the meeting was over." The animals appeared awed and 
hushed by the unusual and protracted stillness of the 
human company in their midst. 

By the aid of interpreters and translations, Mr. Shillitoe 
was far more successful than could have been expected in 
his Continental ministrations, in spite of his entire 
ignorance of any language but his own. In Switzerland 
he had a peculiarly interesting interview with a deeply 
pious gentleman, who chiefly communicated with him by 
the language of signs. Finding that they could not 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 71 

converse in the ordinary way, the Swiss, by placing his 
hand first on his own heart, and then on Mr. Shillitoe's 
breast, gave the latter to understand that they could feel 
a communion of spirit which they could not express. 
Then fetching from his library a large volume of copper- 
plates, illustrating the Gospels and the life of our Lord, 
he signified by various gestures at certain scenes there 
depicted his appreciation of the offices of Christ and of 
His Spirit. In particular, at the plate representing our 
Lord casting out devils from the herd of swine, he suc- 
ceeded in giving Mr. Shillitoe to understand that, at the 
present time, Christ still performs a similar miracle in the 
hearts of sinful men who prayerfully and obediently seek 
Him. He then brought a map of England, and signified 
his wish to know from what locality his visitor came. Mr. 
Shillitoe then gave him a document in German, which he 
had with him, explaining the objects of his mission. This 
the Swiss gentleman read attentively, after which he 
paused in solemn silence, and, presently kneeling down, 
prayed with much fervency and earnestness, evidently for a 
blessing on his visitor and his religious labours. Both 
wept freely in the depth of their sympathetic emotion, 
and taking leave of Mr. Shillitoe, the stranger clasped him 
long and affectionately in his arms, as if reluctant to part. 
The good Friend felt this hearty and congenial reception 
to be ' ' like a brook by the way, cheering my drooping 
spirits." 

After other visits to various places in Switzerland and 
France, Mr. Shillitoe returned to England in April 1823, 
after an absence of twenty-two months on his missionary 
travels on the Continent. 



72 



THOMAS SHILLITOE, 



CHAPTER V. 

FURTHER FOKEIGN MISSIONS— EUSS TA AND AMERICA. 

SECOND CONTINENTAL JOURNEY AND ITS LABOURS — SIX 
MONTHS IN PETERSBURG — DANIEL WHEELER — DREAD OF 
THE POLICE AND THE RATS — AWFUL INUNDATION AT 

PETERSBURG PERILOUS JOURNEY HOMEWARD — BERLIN — 

RECRUITS HIS EXHAUSTED ENERGIES AT BUXTON — SEIZES 
AN OPPORTUNITY OF USEFULNESS THERE, AND VISITS THE 
DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE ON BEHALF OF THE POOR — EMBARKS 
FOR AMERICA — THE HICKSITES — THE MORAL SENSE — INDIS- 
PENSABLE NEED OF THE GOSPEL AND THE HOLY SCRIPTURES 
— ADDRESS TO INDIANS AT CATARAGUS — TESTIMONIES OF 
MR. MOFFATT AND OTHER MISSIONARIES AS TO THE NECES- 
SITY OF THE BIBLE AND OF MINISTRY TO THE HEATHEN — 
HAI EBN YOKDAN — U A CUMBER-GROUND " — CHILDREN AND 
DOGS AT MEETING — VISITS TO THE PRESIDENT AND TO 
SLAVE-OWNERS — RETURN TO ENGLAND. 

After a year's repose Mr. Sliillitoe started for another 
Continental journey in 1824, intending to visit other parts 
of Germany, Denmark, and Prussia, and then to winter 
in Russia, where he contemplated special religious engage- 
ments in Petersburg. As on his previous journey, his 
labours consisted mainly of efforts for promoting Sabbath 
observance, temperance, the welfare of prisoners, the 
religious growth of serious individuals or small groups of 
earnest Christians, and interviews with monarchs, nobles, 
and magistrates. 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 73 

His stay at Petersburg extended over six months, from 
September, 1824, to the end of February, 1825. During 
this period he had two very interesting interviews with the 
pious Emperor Alexander the First, and visited the prisons 
and other public institutions, in addition to his labours 
with private individuals. His stay in the Eussian 
Metropolis was rendered much more pleasant than it 
would otherwise have been, by the frequent hospitalities 
extended to him by a family of English Quakers, named 
Wheeler, who resided a few miles out of the city, at a 
place named Shoosharry. The head of the family, Mr. 
Daniel Wheeler, had once been a soldier, but becoming 
acquainted with the Friends had left the army, and united 
himself to that body. By his industry and probity he 
had acquired a comfortable position in life, and had, a few 
years previously to Mr. Shillitoe's visit to Russia, come 
thither to reside as a superintendent of extensive agricul- 
tural operations, carried on at the special desire of the 
Emperor on one of the Imperial estates. When Alexander 
visited England with the allied monarchs, at the close of 
the wars with Napoleon, he had come into contact, on 
several occasions, with members of the Society of Friends, 
and especially with the excellent Mr. William Allen, head 
of the chemical firm of Allen, Hanbury and Howard, of 
Lombard Street, a universal philanthropist, once styled by 
Lord Brougham, " the best man in London." The 
Emperor was so pleased with Allen and some of his 
brother Friends, that he expressed a wish that some of 
their community might settle in Russia, and when, a few 
years afterwards, the works at Shoosharry were in con- 
templation, Alexander caused enquiry to be made for an 



74 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

English Quaker as superintendent, rather than any one 
else. Mr. Wheeler offered himself, and was readily 
accepted. He, like Mr. Shillitoe, was an eminent preacher 
amongst the Friends, and after performing his work at 
Petersburg, under Alexander and his successor Nicholas, 
devoted the remainder of his life to long and arduous 
missionary journeys in Australia, Tasmania, the Islands 
of the Pacific Ocean, and the Continent of North America. 

After the visit of the Emperor Alexander to England, 
he received several religious visits from Mr. Allen and 
another Quaker preacher (quite as remarkable for his 
extensive missionary travels), a Frenchman by birth, 
Mr. Stephen Grellet. The Emperor treated these good 
men with almost fraternal kindness, and corresponded for 
years with them through the medium of his private 
secretary, Prince Alexander Galitzin, who also was a truly 
religious person. 

Thus, when Mr. Shillitoe arrived in Petersburg, he found 
that Quakers were well known at Court, and highly 
esteemed. But, at first, the police and subordinate officials 
were, for some time, very suspicious of the homely looking 
little Englishman. His steps were dogged by spies, and 
rumours were current in the city that he had been travelling 
all over the Continent, and everywhere giving away money 
freely, with a view, as was presumed, of some ultimate 
revolutionary project. 

Mr. Shillitoe did not lodge with his kind friends, the 
Wheelers, but at a house in the heart of Petersburg ; and 
when he ascertained the reports which were thus current 
respecting him, he became apprehensive of sudden arrest, 
and even, possibly, of secret deportation to Siberia. At 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 7o 

any rate it seemed not unlikely but that lie might he 
thrown into a dungeon as a spy or revolutionary emissary ; 
and the Emperor, to whom Mr. Wheeler could have 
satisfactorily explained the nature of his friend's mission 
and character, had not yet returned to Petersburg from 
an absence in the provinces. So Thomas, always apt to 
be nervous, now became more so than usual, and Mr. 
Wheeler, who was a man of humour and keenly enjoyed a 
joke, could not refrain from pleasantly contributing to 
his ideas of the terrors of Eussian dungeons, by telling 
him of the multitude of hungry rats frequenting them. 
Poor Mr. Shillitoe gravely entered his dismal fears in 
his memoranda, and anxiously dwelt upon the prospect 
of their realization in his own experience. 

Eventually he escaped all molestation by police or rats, 
and left Petersburg, after receiving marks of high honour 
from the Emperor and some of his grandees, as well as 
from the humbler objects of his labours. 

But, in the interval, he witnessed an appalling 
catastrophe. 

On the 19th of November, 1824, the city and vicinity 
of Petersburg were visited by an inundation of unparalleled 
magnitude, which resulted in an awful destruction of life 
and property. On starting to take his usual walk after 
breakfast, Mr. Shillitoe was surprised at finding his 
lodgings so surrounded by water, that he speedily returned 
and told his landlady that they were living on an island. 
Not understanding him, she merely smiled. Presently 
Mr. Shillitoe observed wading across the yard a servant of 
an English lady who lodged in the same establishment, 
and who was already overtaken by the now rapidly rising 



76 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

waters. Higher and higher the flood deepened, until men 
were up to their necks, and horses and carriages swimming 
in the streets, where there was soon twelve feet of water. 
The ground-floor of Mr. Shillitoe's lodging was occupied 
by a grocer's shop. This was filled from floor to ceiling, 
and still the flood continued gradually rising, until it was 
feared the houses would be wholly submerged, and their 
inhabitants drowned together. 

In the court-yard of Mr. Shillitoe's house, a poor man 
was floated on the top of a carriage under an archway, 
where he was in danger of being drowned. He raised 
piercing cries, but it was two hours before any one was 
able to extricate him from his dangerous position. Mr. 
Shillitoe could not help him, but suffered much from the 
sight of his jeopardy, and from his shrieks for help. A 
horse also, attached to a small cart, swam outside Mr. 
Shillitoe's windows, and with difficulty kept its head above 
water, by planting its fore -feet on the top of a flight of 
steps. In this position it continued several hours, when 
a policeman came in a boat to its aid. From ten o'clock 
till four in the afternoon, there prevailed the most awful 
stillness. Not a person was seen to stir. Towards 
evening the waters were evidently sinking; and, as they 
retired, they burst open doors and windows, threw down 
walls and houses, and did immense mischief. That night 
was one of awful darkness and stillness, no lamps being 
lighted, as it was impracticable to attempt it. 

On the following day the flood had left the streets, and 
it was possible to walk abroad in some directions and 
witness the effects of the calamity. Many of the bridges 
were carried away. All were injured. Many houses were 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 77 

wholly swept away. In one row of cottages 250 corpses 
were found. Multitudes of horses and cattle perished. 
For miles around the city fences were washed away, and 
the fields covered with fragments of houses, broken 
furniture, timber, and dead bodies of men and beasts. 

Mr. Wheeler and his family had happily escaped injury, 
their dwelling being on elevated ground. 

Thomas Shillitoe continued in Petersburg three months 
after this terrible flood. In the spring following he 
returned overland through Prussia and Germany to his 
native country. On this journey he suffered many incon- 
veniences from the cold weather, the deep mud of the 
woods, the danger of crossing rivers choked with fragments 
of broken ice, and, at times, the discomforts of unpleasant 
sleeping quarters, especially in Eussia and East Prussia. 
Thus he mentions that when near Marienburg the wheels 
of their vehicle repeatedly sunk into deep mud-holes, which 
all but overturned them. Then, after crossing two frozen 
rivers in the dark, they came to a region which was so 
widely flooded that their course had to be changed from 
time to time in all directions, east, west, north, and south, 
to avoid the deeper tracts of water surrounding them ; 
then other rivers to cross ; and the next night at a village 
on the banks of the Vistula, no lodging-place but the 
dirty floor of a room covered with pea- stalks. 

Mi*. Shillitoe thus describes the scene: — " On entering 
this room where we had to take up our lodging for the 
night, dirty-looking miserable men and women put their 
heads out of the pea- straw to gaze on us ; others were 
drinking, smoking, and making a noise ; clean straw was 
brought in for us, upon which I could gladly have laid 



78 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

down my weary bones, but for fear of damp and the 
vermin I might collect from my next neighbour, as they 
were lying pretty thickly about the floor, except where 
others were sitting, drinking, and smoking ; we concluded 
to keep on our fur-coats, and, by the help of a table to 
lay our heads upon, to try to get some sleep. Towards 
morning we enjoyed some quiet, and at day-break a pretty 
general sallying out took place of men and women. Some 
of the men proceeded to prepare the way through the ice 
for our departure. I rejoiced to see the peep of day, and 
was glad to turn out of our filthy apartment, and get away 
from the fumes of the spirits and tobacco, to breathe the 
fresh air ; but when we came to take a view by daylight 
of the road which we had travelled to reach this miserable 
abode, and the danger we had been exposed to, whilst it 
occasioned a chill of dread all over me, it awakened afresh 
in my mind such feelings of gratitude as caused songs of 
praise sweetly to arise to that Almighty Power who had 
thus in mercy watched over us, and preserved us from all 
harm." 

Moving westward through Prussia and Germany, and 
staying at Berlin and other cities where opportunities of 
religious usefulness opened, Mr. Shillitoe again reached 
home. 

His arduous labours and long travels had, at his 
advanced age, produced much weariness and lassitude. 
His friends therefore recommended him to recruit for a 
few weeks amid the quiet scenery of Derbyshire, and to 
drink the waters and bathe in the baths at Buxton. But 
weakly and in repose, he was still alive to every oppor- 
tunity of usefulness. Whilst at Buxton he, one day, 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 79 

stepped into the bathing-place allotted to poor men, but 
found it so small, so miserably deficient in ventilation, and 
in such bad condition generally, that he was glad to quit 
it hastily. He was informed that many of these poor 
patients caught severe colds from the insufficient ac- 
commodation, and from often having to remain naked on 
bare stone seats and benches, and then to dress without 
the use of towels. On enquiry, Mr. Shillitoe finding that 
the agent of the Duke of Devonshire (the owner of the 
baths) had already had his attention drawn to the gross 
neglect of the poor, but had never taken means to remedy 
it, felt it his duty to lay the matter in person before the 
Duke, who was then staying at Chatsworth. Thither 
Thomas walked, a distance of twelve miles. On arriving 
at the porter's lodge he was informed that he could not see 
the Duke. Not to be repulsed he took from his pocket a 
religious book, and sent with it the following note, which, 
he wrote to introduce it and himself: — 

" One of the Society of Friends wishes in person to 
present the Duke with a work, which he hopes the Duke 
will find an interest in reading.'' 

The note was sent in, and Thomas was requested to 
follow. The Duke received him very courteously, and on 
offering to pay for the book, Thomas of course refused to 
receive any money, but at once stated the real and main 
object of his coming — to plead for the neglected poor at 
Buxton. He asked further permission to read to the Duke 
a detailed report of the abuses which he had drawn up and 
brought with him. The Duke, after listening attentively 
to it, entered freely into conversation, and expressed his 



80 

obligation for the pains Mr. Shillitoe had taken to lay the 
matter before him. 

Thankful and satisfied at the result of his effort, Thomas 
walked back again to Buxton, although the weather was 
very hot and his health indifferent. 

The Duke's agent, on hearing of his journey to Chats- 
worth, called on him and stated that, if he had laid the 
matter before himself instead of troubling the Duke with 
it, the matter should have been attended to. But Thomas 
was better satisfied to apply at head- quarters and at the 
fountain source of power. Soon afterwards the Duke gave 
orders to effect all needful improvements in the baths for 
poor men and women ; and they were accordingly rendered 
much more comfortable. 

After a few months spent in the bosom of his family, 
Thomas Shillitoe again started for extensive foreign 
service in his Divine Master's work. This time it was to 
America. 

He embarked at Liverpool for New York in the autumn 
of 1826 (at the age of seventy-two). On the voyage 
thither (of about six weeks) he exerted himself in many 
ways to promote the religious improvement of his fellow- 
passengers. In his diary on board occurs the following 
brief prayer : — 

" 0, Holy Father! keep me in the hollow of Thy 
Divine hand this day ; that so, through my good example 
to the multitude enclosed with me by these wooden walls, 
who appear watching my movements, Thy great name 
may be glorified, and inquiry begotten after the more 
acceptable way of serving Thee, our God." 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 81 

His American journey occupied more than three years. 
Much of it was taken up in visiting the meetings of his 
fellow-members of the Society of Friends, who at that 
period were undergoing a sort of religious revolution, by 
the secession of some eighty thousand of their body, who 
formed themselves into a separate association, usually 
named that of the Hicksites, after their leader and chief 
preacher, Elias Hicks, of Jericho, on Long Island. Most 
of Mr. Shillitoe's memoranda made during his American 
travel, relate to matters connected with these sectarian 
differences, and which therefore only call for a general 
notice. 

The Hicksites not only asserted that they were the 
legitimate successors, in faith and doctrine, of George 
Fox and his contemporaries, but they also at first claimed 
Thomas Shillitoe as a virtual adherent of their party. 
But in this they were mistaken, for he vigorously protested 
against them. 

They went sad lengths. They denied the special 
inspiration and paramount authority of the Bible ; they 
rejected the doctrines of the Deity and sacrificial atone- 
ment of our Lord Jesus Christ ; they declared that every 
man has within him an " inward light" wholly sufficient 
in itself to guide him into salvation, independently of the 
Bible, or of instruction in the facts of the Gospels. In 
their doctrine they may be said to have virtually dispensed 
with the Son of God, by denying His deity, incarnation, 
and propitiatory sacrifice as "a ransom for all." Pro- 
fessing special reverence for the Holy Spirit, they 
habitually and particularly dishonoured His own great 
gift of the Holy Scriptures, by systematic disparagement, 

G 



82 

and by virtually degrading them to the level of ordinary 
human works. In short, the Hicksites trampled on some 
of the common fundamentals of the Christian faith. 

Yet they did so in many cases from an honest perversion 
of principles in which they had been educated. Some of 
their views did naturally result from the doctrines which 
certain well-meaning persons of a former generation had 
promulgated amongst them in books early familiar to 
them. 

A principal source of their delusion arose from the con- 
troversy respecting the responsibility of the heathen. 
They assumed that, inasmuch as scores of millions of these 
have never received the Bible, or heard of a Saviour, 
therefore there must be, in accordance with Divine justice, 
a universal manifestation of the Holy Spirit granted them 
sufficient to save without Gospel or minister. They 
asserted that such a universal light is found in every 
heathen person. But here they mistook the common 
moral sense for such a saving light. It is true that all 
men have, in greater or less degree, a moral sense ; or, 
in other words, something within which testifies a certain 
measure of approval of right and disapproval of wrong. 
Even the beasts have a degree of such a moral sense. 
Thus, a cat, which has stolen meat from the cook, betrays 
by its demeanour a sense of conviction. Still more do 
dogs, after disobeying their owners, testify (by their 
slinking aspect, their ears thrown back, and tails drawn 
between their legs,) a keen sense of wrong and shame. 
The elephant has been known to commit suicide after, in 
a fit of passion, killing its master and feeder. On the 
other hand, these animals, especially the dog, manifest a 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 83 

lively sense of self- approval after rendering special fidelity 
and service to their owners. Hence they are said to have 
a sort of moral sense. And so have all men, even the 
lowest savages, in smaller or greater measure. 

But such a moral sense is an entirely different gift from 
the glorious and sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit, a 
presence producing affections and feelings which universal 
experience proves only to be accorded in connection with 
the teachings of scriptural revelation, and the typical or 
fulfilled manifestations of God's holiness and love in Jesus 
Christ our Lord. In all ages and in all lands it has been 
found that there has been no individual or national 
holiness, nothing approaching to virtue or goodness in 
its higher aspects, apart from the possession of an outward 
Revelation. For the love of God can only spring from 
the knowledge of Him. Where, as in the case of a very 
few of the Greeks and Romans, considerable approaches 
toward virtue were manifested, there is good reason for 
concluding that indirectly some of the truths derived from 
God's revelation to the Jews and to the Prophets had 
reached these under modified and almost unrecognizable 
forms. 

It has been justly remarked by President Jonathan 
Edwards, in his "Miscellaneous Observations," — "What 
instance can be mentioned from any history of any one 
nation under the sun that emerged from atheism or idolatry 
into the knowledge or adoration of the one true God, 
without the assistance of Eevelation? The Americans, 
the Africans, the Tartars, and the ingenious Chinese, have 
had time enough, one would think, to find out the right 
and true idea of God ; and yet, after about five thousand 

g 2 



84 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

years' improvement, and the full exercise of reason, they 
have, at this day, got no farther in their progress towards 
the true religion than to the worship of stocks and stones 
and devils." 

But the Hicksites ignored the real experiences of 
heathendom, and proclaimed that, in the mere dim moral 
sense, common to all men, and shared in even by some 
beasts, these possessed the sacred gift of the Holy Spirit, 
and were safe for Heaven and salvation without Bibles 
and without preachers. By a natural and consistent 
inference, they have reasoned that if the Bible and out- 
ward preaching were not necessary to bring the heathen 
to Heaven, neither were they indispensable for civilized 
persons such as themselves. They utterly confounded two 
distinct questions, namely, the necessity for a knowledge 
of the Gospel of Christ to produce the fruits of the Holy 
Spirit, and the problem of the future condition of those 
who have never received either. They were not content 
to believe, " Shall not the Judge of all the earth do 
right ? ' ' but asserted a great many other things contrary 
alike to experience and to Scripture. Eventually they 
went further, and denied the authority and standard both 
of the Scriptures and of Christ. 

Many of Elias Hicks' assertions are too blasphemous 
for quotation ; but it was his habit to speak of the blessed 
Bible as "a mere written book," and to declare that 
innate ideas, or an intuitional sense, afforded the chief 
knowledge of God and of Christ. He proclaimed, " It is 
a great truth that what is to be known of God is mani- 
fested only in man. There is the place that He manifests 
Himself. 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY, 85 

In like manner one of the first systematic writers on 
Deisni, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, wrote with much 
plausible sincerity, — u We come at the knowledge of 
Divine things by innate ideas, or by having the law and 
rule of life written and engraven on our hearts in such 
plain visible characters, that whoever looks into himself 
will clearly discern the great principles and duties of 
religion." 

These teachings ignored the inspired declarations, that 
all men are in darkness until the love of God in Christ is 
revealed to them by the preaching of the Gospel and the 
perusal of Holy Scripture. The Psalmist proclaims, 
" The entrance of Thy words giveth light " (Ps. cxix. 130). 
And the Apostle Paul was not sent to direct the Gentiles 
to the light of innate ideas, or of a mere moral sense : but 
received the commission from Christ personally, — " I send 
thee to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness 
to light, and from the power of Satan unto God/' Thus, 
too, he told the Ephesians that they had been " dead in 
trespasses and sins," but had received light through his 
apostolic message respecting Christ, in whom ye also 
trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel ot 
your salvation." 

Yet it was not altogether without some reason that the 
Hicksites at first claimed Thomas Shillitoe as a partial 
supporter of their views. For although in his own life he 
earnestly honoured the Holy Scriptures as the great rule 
of faith and practice, yet there had on certain occasions 
escaped from him ambiguous teachings on the subject, and 
especially in an address issued by him whilst in America 
to the Seneca tribe of Indians assembled at Catarasrus. 



86 



THOMAS SHILLITOE, 



The tenour of his address on that occasion was by no 
means so clear and scriptural as his usual exhortations. 
A measure of sectarian opposition to certain missionaries 
appears to have then led him into expressions which after- 
wards caused regret and pain to his Christian friends. 

In this address he said, — " I now declare, that so far 
from my believing the Scriptures to be the only means of 
salvation and sole rule for our conduct, I am decidedly 
opposed to such dangerous and false opinions on such im- 
portant subjects as these are. I consider them to be the 
writings of holy men in former ages, who were inspired by 
the Great Spirit ; and that they contain good counsel and 
advice. But, brothers, I consider such as tell you that 
they are the only rule or means of salvation, to be under 
the influence of a wrong spirit. I believe such missionaries 
have made a wrong use of these writings.' 7 

In these words Mr. Shillitoe, truly good man as he 
was, unintentionally, but virtually, endorsed the root 
principle of Hicksism. In all ages of Christendom it 
has been found that religious and social progress has 
made way in precisely the same proportion in which the 
Bible has been acknowledged as the only safe standard of 
faith and doctrine, and in proportion as it has been prayer- 
fully depended on as the guiding star of life ; even as our 
holy Redeemer declared, " The words which I speak unto 
you, they are spirit, and they are life." And again He 
says, " Ye are clean through the word which I have spoken 
unto you." 

Thomas, with all his virtues, had his many weak points, 
like other men. Although generally good tempered and 
lively, he could manifest much acerbity when provoked. 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 87 

On one occasion, at a great meeting of Quakers in London, 
he became so excited and violent towards some person who 
differed from him, that, aged man and experienced minister 
as he then was, two of the Friends were necessitated to 
take hold of him and lead him away forcibly from the 
scene of conflict. And a few weeks before his decease, one 
of the last letters, if not the very last, which his intimate 
friend, Peter Bedford, wrote to him, was a loving exhor- 
tation not to let his irritability at opposition manifest 
itself too strongly. Thomas was very sensible of his 
defect in this respect, and sometimes alluded to it in his 
memoranda and letters. Thus, on one occasion, speaking 
of the virtue of patience, he candidly adds that it is " an 
ingredient I have very little of in my natural composition." 

Another reason why the Hicksites erroneously laid claim 
to him as an adherent is to be found in a feature of his 
preaching, which was certainly a frequent defect in it. 
Mr. Shillitoe, although very zealous for public morality, 
for temperance, for reverent observance of the sabbath, 
and for other moral and religious duties, was not equally 
urgent in laying the axe at the root of the tree of evil. 
He did not perceive so habitually as was needful, that it 
is only from the love of Christ that good works can flow 
as natural and permanent fruit, rather than as forced and 
transient efforts. 

Although at the close of his life he boldly and humbly 
pleaded the merits and sufferings of the Lord Jesus as his 
only trust for heaven, yet it is but fair to acknowledge that 
in his general ministry there was not the like full and pro- 
minent recognition of the love of God as displayed in the 
incarnation of the Lord Jesus, our infinitely compassionate 



88 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

Kedeemer, to the thorough extent which Scripture 
truth requires. There was certainly a want of more 
emphatic and habitual reference to the sacred " blood of 
sprinkling " in his sermons. Hence, again, the Hicksites 
looked toward him at first as to a somewhat favourable 
sympathizer with their own radically defective doctrines. 

The question of the heathen and their innate ideas as 
sufficient for salvation, was, on various occasions, taken 
up by Mr. Shillitoe during his American visit, and he 
certainly compromised himself, in degree, by endorsing 
some of the views of the Hicksites on the subject, and 
by appearing to disparage the Holy Scriptures. Yet, 
those who really knew his life and heartfelt convictions, 
were convinced of his virtual reverence for the Scriptures 
as the rule of faith. But his trumpet at times gave a 
decidedly uncertain sound. Hence trouble ensued. Some 
of his meetings during the Hicksite controversy were 
times of downright riot. He had once or twice to flee 
from fear of violence. But these painful scenes we shall 
pass by. 

It is, however, appropriate here to introduce one or two 
testimonies, by experienced Christian missionaries, as to 
the non-existence of any really efficacious innate principles 
in the heathen, apart from, or antecedent to, their recep- 
tion of the outward and historic facts of Christ's love and 
incarnation as set forth in the Holy Scriptures. 

The excellent Eobert MofTatt, in his " Missionary 
Labours in South Africa," written after forty years of 
Christian labour amongst the heathen there, says of them, 
" Their ignorance, though to a calm reasoner on the sub- 
ject not to be wondered at, was distressing in the extreme, 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 89 

and perfectly confounding to my preconceived notions 
about innate and intuitive ideas, and what some term 
natural light." — (p. 32, 20th edition.) He adds (p. 64) 
u While Satan is obviously the author of the polytheism 
of other nations, he has employed his agency with fatal 
success in erasing every vestige of religious impression 
from the minds of the Bechuanas, Hottentots, and Bush- 
men, leaving them without a single ray to guide them." 
Mr. Campbell says of these heathen, " They looked on 
the sun with the eyes of an ox." Mr. Moffatt fur- 
ther records, of a converted and specially intelligent 
heathen, " The question being put to one whose memory 
was tenacious, as his judgment was enlightened, ' How 
did you feel upon retiring, from private as well as public 
crimes, and laying your head on the silent pillow ? Were 
there no fears in your breast, no spectres before your eyes, 
no conscience accusing you of having done wrong ; no 
palpitations, no dread of futurity?' ' No, ' said he, 
' How could we feel, or how could we fear ? We had no 
idea that an unseen eye saw us, or that an unseen ear 
heard us. What could we know beyond ourselves, or of 
another world, before life and immortality were brought 
to us by the word of God.' This declaration was followed 
by a flood of tears ; while he added, * You found us beasts 
and not men.' " 

A similar testimony is borne by Mr. Henry Nott, one 
of the earliest missionaries to the South Seas, respecting 
the universal absence of the glorious gifts of the Holy 
Ghost amongst the tribes destitute of the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ. 

The scriptural declarations are, that "where there is 



y(J THOMAS SH1LLITOE, 

no law there is no transgression;" " As many as have 
sinned without law shall also perish without law;" and 
" He who knew not his Lord's will, and committed deeds 
worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes." 

The Bible declares that the heathen will not be punished 
for what they have never received ; but that, nevertheless, 
they cannot be qualified for the glories of heaven except 
by the sanctifying discipline of the Spiritual influences 
flowing from the revelation of God's love in Jesus Christ, 
the Holy One once bleeding on the Cross for the sins of 
all men, and now risen on high, until He come again to 
establish His everlasting kingdom with the saints, a 
kingdom into which only sanctified and redeemed persons 
will be permitted to enter ; those who have, through faith 
and prayerful obedience, obtained the prize, the glorious 
gift of eternal life, from Christ. 

Mr. Moffatt impressively concludes: — "The Apostle 
Paul, feeling the full weight of the Saviour's commission, 
adds to the fearful list of iniquities and flagitious sins, 
committed by his own countrymen, the Jews, that of for- 
bidding him and his colleagues i to preach to the Gentiles 
that they might be saved.'' Thus, if the apostle is to be 
our example, and if the commands of the Saviour are to 
be our guide, our duty is as plain as if written by a noon- 
tide ray, to make known to perishing heathen, whether at 
home or abroad, the words of eternal life." 

Mr. Shillitoe himself was a most devoted practical illus- 
tration of this apostolic zeal in promulgating religious 
truth. He was willing to spend and be spent in the 
service, and had consecrated himself, as a living sacrifice 
unto God, for its accomplishment. The Hicksites, as 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 91 

might be expected, left the heathen in their native dark- 
ness, to the light of their falsely-presumed innate ideas. 
But so did not Mr. Shillitoe. And so did not George 
Fox, whom the Hicksites professed to follow. He tra- 
versed sea and land, mountain and wilderness, to preach 
the Gospel. After he had aroused persons to spiritual 
earnestness for their own salvation, he urgently com- 
manded them to teach others also. Thus, to his brethren 
in America, he wrote (in 1679), " All Friends, every- 
where, that have Indians or blacks, you are to preach the 
Gospel to them and other servants, if you be true Chris- 
tians • for the Gospel of salvation was to be preached to 
1 every creature under heaven.' Christ commands it to 
His disciples, c Go and teach all nations ; baptizing them 
into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.' " 

George Fox, in his mission incitements, specially con- 
nected the blessed gift of the Holy Spirit with the pre- 
sence of the Gospel of the New Testament. He wrote 
again, " You must teach and instruct blacks, and Indians, 
and others, how that God doth pour out of His Spirit 
upon all flesh in these days of the New Covenant and 
New Testament ; and also you must instruct and teach 
your Indians, and negroes, and all others, how that Christ, 
by the grace of God, tasted death for every man, and 
gave Himself a ransom for all men, to be testified in due 
time." 

This charge was truly scriptural, and it is to be wished 
that good Mr. Shillitoe, with his usual zeal, had as clearly 
acted upon it to the Seneca Indians. 

Many score of pages of his memoranda are devoted to 
recording the painful scenes of the Hicksite separation and 



92 



heresy. Before passing from them altogether, it may 
appropriately be mentioned that the chief actual "fact," 
quoted as a practical proof in support of their doctrine of 
heathen salvation through innate ideas, had been found to 
be utterly spurious and fictitious. It was a narrative gravely 
recorded by a learned writer, named Eobert Barclay, in 
all the earlier editions of his work entitled the " Apology," 
and was confidingly quoted by him from a translation of 
an Arabic history of one Hai Eben Yokdan, who, as it 
was alleged, when an infant, was thrown into the sea by 
an unfortunate mother, but was carried by the waves, the 
same night, to an uninhabited island, where he was 
suckled by a wild roe, and grew up to manhood in a state 
of utter isolation. Here, without any communication with 
human beings, none of whom he had ever seen or spoken 
to, "he attained," as Mr. Barclay declared, "to such a 
profound knowledge of God, as to have immediate con- 
verse with Him, and to affirm that the best and most certain 
knowledge of God ' was to be obtained by silent abstraction 
from all material objects.' This abstraction he produced 
by rapid evolutions of his body. Shutting his eyes, and 
stopping his ears, he sustained a whirling motion until all 
outward perception was temporarily withdrawn. In these 
states of wrapt and silent ecstasy, Hai Eben, apart from 
book or human teacher, attained, as was asserted, to a 
profound knowledge of the highest truths, and especially 
of such as are delivered in the Koran, which he had as yet 
neither seen nor heard of. After spending fifty years on 
his desert island, it was at length visited by a Moslem 
stranger, with whom, after a time, he was able to con- 
verse, and from whom he received, orally, a detailed 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 93 

account of the Mohammedan creed, its doctrines, and its 
paradise. " All which things," states the Arab historian, 
" Hai Eben Yokdan understood very well, and did not 
find any of them disagreeable to what he had seen when 
in that noble station ; and he believed his visitor, and 
affirmed his veracity, and bore witness to his message." 

It was not until many years after the death of the 
author of " The Apology," that it was discovered that 
what he had quoted as an authentic and actual history, 
was merely a romance, a sort of metaphysical Arabian 
" Robinson Crusoe," and that the astounding "fact" of 
Hai Eben's spiritual development by innate ideas, was 
one of the wildest conceptions of oriental fancy. Never- 
theless, it had been received as authentic by very many, 
especially in America, and who were, by it, greatly con- 
firmed in the dangerous opinions from which Hicksism 
sprang. This discovery of the fabulous nature of the 
story was not made till the republication of the Arabian 
work in all its details, after many editions of Barclay had 
issued. The official Friends, with characteristic prudence, 
forthwith ordered its suppression in future editions. The 
full title of the work is a lengthy and curious one, viz. : — 
" The improvement of human reason, exhibited in the 
Life of Hai Eben Yokdan ; written in Arabic, above five 
hundred years ago, by Abu Jaafar Ebn Tophail ; in which 
is demonstrated by what methods one may, by the mere 
light of nature, attain the knowledge of things natural 
and supernatural, more particularly the knowledge of 
God, and the affairs of another life. Newly translated 
from the original Arabic, by Simon Ockley, A.M., Vicar 
of Swavesey, in Cambridgeshire. London, printed, and 



94 



Dublin, reprinted, by and for Samuel Fuller, at the Globe 
in Meath Street." 

At a village in New England, Mr. Shillitoe exhibited 
much vigour in protesting against a display of mischievous 
Hicksite delusion in a Quaker lady, of otherwise virtuous 
life and amiable manners, who had imbibed the notion 
that outward ministry and Christian association were 
unnecessary or undesirable for her. Having heard of the 
miserable condition into which these visionary ideas had 
reduced her, he obtained permission from her husband to 
visit her, and found her immured in a close hot room, in 
which, although it was warm American summer weather, she 
had hung up pieces of woollen cloth over all crevices of 
the door and windows, to exclude draughts. The poor 
creature's countenance wore a dismal aspect, and she had 
thus spent her time in chewing and moping for nearly two 
years. Thomas, convinced that the wretched woman was 
the victim of " a temptation of Satan," boldly told her as 
much, and further called her " a cumber- ground ;" for, 
he adds, u if I spoke at all, it must be in plain terms." 
This rousing and unceremonious style of address from a 
stranger and a foreigner effected the desired purpose. 
The delusion was dispelled, and the patient restored to her 
right mind. She henceforth mingled with her friends, 
attended public worship regularly, and again became a 
useful and pleasant member of society. 

Mr. Shillitoe held many meetings in the remote settle- 
ments of the United States. At these he was much 
disturbed by the squalling of the numerous infants brought 
thither by their mothers who had no servants, or " helps," 
at home to take charge of them. Another practice which 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 95 

much annoyed him, and against which he publicly protested, 
was the free-and-easy habit of bringing dogs into the 
meetings, where, during the attempted silence and preach- 
ing, they trotted about the room, or fought for the warmest 
places around the stove, and otherwise disturbed the quiet 
and solemnity of the gatherings. This appeared to be 
utterly without excuse, and Mr. Shillitoe accordingly made 
it the subject of exhortation and caution. 

In America, as elsewhere, he visited the prisons, and 
some of the most influential persons in authority, including 
the President of the United States. Negroes and slave- 
owners also claimed his Christian solicitude. In Maryland 
he heard of a slave-merchant whose transactions in human 
flesh were of a very wholesale nature, and whose reputation 
for wickedness and ferocity indicated a character of the 
stamp of the infamous Legree, whom Mrs. Stowe has so 
graphically depicted in " Uncle Tom's Cabin." Mr. 
Shillitoe very naturally shrank from the prospect of visiting 
such a person. But duty pointed clearly, and, therefore, 
taking a companion, he proceeded to the residence of the 
merchant, not without much terror of the numerous savage 
dogs which were permitted to prowl around it unchained. 
The good man writes : l ' There was no way for me but to 
cast my care* on Him who had so many times preserved 
me as from the paw of the bear, and the jaws of the 
devourer." On approaching the mansion two of the large 
fierce clogs rushed toward the Friends, but, being observed 
by some house-slaves, were promptly called back. Pre- 
sently the owner of the establishment made his appearance, 
roughly exclaiming, " What is your business ? " On 
explaining it courteously and mildly, he led them into an 



96 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

elegantly furnished room, and there afforded Mr. Shillitoe 
a full opportunity of earnestly pleading with him on behalf 
of the oppressed bondsmen. It was urged upon him that 
the proper way to attain a true conception of the matter 
was to place himself, his parents, his brothers and sisters, 
in imagination, in the condition of the slaves, and then to 
consider how far he could regard it as consistent with 
Christianity and obedience to God, to separate parent and 
child, husband and wife, and to enthral human beings, 
like brute beasts, in a bondage degrading alike to body 
and soul. The slave- owner was touched by the reference 
to his parents, and acknowledged that he had been brought 
up by a pious mother, who entertained such a rooted 
aversion to the slave system, as to induce her husband to 
liberate seventy slaves. After her death her young son 
had been surrounded by unfavourable influences, had 
entered the army of the United States, fought at New 
Orleans, and eventually entered into the slave traffic, in 
which he had acquired much wealth. But the remembrance 
of his pious mother, and his experience of the horrors and 
vices of the system, rendered him very much dissatisfied 
with it, and he had, at one period, made an attempt to 
abandon it, but was so strongly urged to continue it by 
acquaintances making a high profession as orthodox 
Christians, that, in the view of such strong religious 
sanction, he had maintained his establishment as before. 
But he now confessed that it was a bad business, and 
expressed a hope and belief that, in about twenty years, 
slavery would be extinct. He added that it was still his 
intention to quit his occupation at a suitable time. He 
then politely conducted his visitors through the array of 
chained and ud chained dogs about the premises, and took 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 97 

a pleasant leave of them. Loaded pistols and other arms 
in various parts of his house indicated his sense of constant 
clanger, and the necessity for vigorous precautions against 
insubordination or resistance. His courtesy to Mr. 
Shillitoe was the more remarkable, inasmuch as he had 
recently almost killed another Quaker, whom he had 
thrown 'down in the public streets* and violently trampled 
on, for the offence of being an ll abolitionist." 

In a similar visit paid to another slave- owner, the 
absolute master of 300 bondsmen, Mr. Shillitoe' s exhorta- 
tions were not received so pleasantly, but merely elicited 
the acknowledgment, " Our views differ; " and a bold 
defence of the system, as being necessary for the discipline 
of an idle and improvident race, who were thus provided 
with physical care and religious instruction, of which they 
might, perhaps, otherwise be deprived. 

After three years of arduous and often peculiarly painful 
labour in America, Mr. Shillitoe safely returned to England 
in the autumn of 1829. In his memoranda he says, 
u After a passage of twenty-eight days, I was released 
from the society of two as wicked men, cabin passengers, 
as I ever before had been in company with." On his 
arrival at Tottenham, he found his aged wife and his 
family all well, and rejoiced to welcome him back. In 
a thankful retrospect of his Transatlantic mission, he 
exclaims, u May I never forget the multiplied mercies of 
my Divine Care-taker, amidst the many perils and clangers 
to which I have been exposed ; but, above all, that He 
was pleased to hear and answer my daily petitions to Him 
to preserve me out of the hands of men of unsound 
principles." 



98 THOMAS SHILLITOE. 



CHAPTER VI. 

VISITS TO SOVEREIGNS AND INFLUENTIAL PERSONS. 

purely religious source of his visits to such persons 
— reciprocal influences of rulers and subjects, 
ministers and congregations, upon each other — in- 
dividual responsibility — as the seed, so the harvest 
— visit to the president of the united states — 
william carter's union prayer meetings— scriptural 
commands to labour for others in prayer — mr. 
shillitoe's visits to george the third and george 
the fourth — his faithful counsel to the latter — 
interviews with the kings of denmark and prussia — 
william the fourth and queen adelaide — the em- 
peror alexander of russia — the ninety-first psalm 
— Alexander's religious history — daniel wheeler's 
account of his last days. 

The numerous interviews which Thomas Shillitoe was 
in the habit of seeking with monarchs and persons in 
authority did not originate in a love of notoriety, or a 
mere morbid curiosity. They were, in general, services 
from which he previously shrank with fear and much 
reluctance, but which he persevered in from a sense of two 
things — firstly, the power of influential men for good or 
for evil ; and, secondly, the responsibility of individuals 
towards their authorities. 

All history affords repeated examples of the blessed 
influence and widely -efficient power of pious and godly 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 99 

rulers, whether a Moses, a King Josiah, an Alfred the 
Great, or an Alexander the First. On the other hand, 
the demoralizing examples of a Charles the Second, a 
George the Fourth, or a Louis the Fifteenth, are similarly 
manifest. So, too, the influence of magistrates and 
clergymen gathers a special harvest either for God or for 
the devil. This truth is recognised in many a popular 
proverb, such as, u Like priest, like people." But it 
may also be reversed to c< Like people, like priest," and 
" Like nation, like monarch;" for all influences are re- 
ciprocal. 

A man in authority is only able to do good or evil in 
proportion to the circumstances of those he governs. If 
the latter are faithful .and prayerful as individuals, their 
power is mighty to counteract official evil and to compel 
right action. Oftentimes rulers who have been the 
scourges of nations, such as, for instance, Robespierre, 
have felt and acknowledged that they were themselves 
urged onward by the spirit and character of the times, 
working out, as by the rushing of an irresistible mighty 
flood, the indispensable process of chastisement and dis- 
cipline. When national evils have been long and persis- 
tently neglected by the great mass of individuals composing 
the nations, the measure of iniquity becomes full beyond 
the power of king or people to remove, and then some 
awful calamity is the certain and curative result, just as in 
some cases nothing avails to remedy a far- diseased limb, 
except the painful process of excision. Thus it was at 
the French Revolution. Courtly vice, and far worse 
still, priestly hypocrisy, had produced a nation of sceptics 
and profligates whose condition was so utterly corrupt, 

H 2 



100 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

that, in the virtual absence of the gospel and of a verna- 
cular Bible, nothing could avail for correction but years of 
awful discipline. The revolutionists and Napoleon arose 
to administer that discipline. 

So again, recently, in the United States. The plagues 
of slavery had for a generation been increasing. They 
had thoroughly corrupted the morals of every town and 
village in the Southern States. Yet, blinded by self- 
interest and deep-rooted prejudices, the pestilence was 
nursed and fondled even by professing Christian churches, 
and boldly patronized by ministerial and clerical conven- 
tions. Then nothing farther could be hoped for to stop 
the inevitable crisis. Conflict and sword, terror and death, 
were as sure to follow such national corruption as night 
follows day. And so it resulted. The thunder-cloud 
could not but burst. Five years of awful tribulation pro- 
claimed to the slave supporters their inevitable responsi- 
bilities and punishment. Thus it always has been, and 
thus it will continue, in every nation's experience as in 
every individual's — " Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
he also reap." 

Thomas Shillitoe felt this truth deeply and abidingly. 
Thus, when amongst Southern planters, he specially 
defends his remonstrances addressed to them on the 
ground of the apostolic precept, " Be not partaker of 
other men's sins, but reprove them ," a participation, he 
adds, which is incurred unless individual efforts against 
the offences, or in promotion of a remedy, are conscien- 
tiously undertaken. 

When visiting the President of the United States, at 
Washington, in 1827, he said to that dignitary, " It has 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 101 

long been my firm belief that, according to the power 
invested in ns, so, if we do not exert that power and 
influence as far as in us lies, in preventing evil practices, 
we ourselves become implicated therein, in the sight of 
Almighty God, with those who are actually in the practice 
of them." He added, " It is my belief that if wickedness 
continues to increase in the United States as it has done, 
a scourge, in some way or another, will again be per- 
mitted to come upon the people." 

In his labours for the Christian welfare of monarchs and 
authorities, Thomas Shillitoe acted on the principle so 
prominently set forth by the Apostle Paul in his epistle 
to Timothy — "I exhort, therefore, that, first of all, 
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, 
be made for all men ; for kings and for all that are in 
authority, that ice may live a quiet and peaceable life in all 
godliness and honesty" 

He also recognized the same principle in its application 
to ministers of religion. But he does not appear to have 
urged the necessity of prayer for these so fully as their 
circumstances call for. Although the condition of con- 
gregations is greatly affected, for good or for evil, by the 
piety or carelessness of their ministers, yet, on the other 
hand, the zeal and efficiency of ministers are largely 
dependent upon the prayers and spiritual services of the 
individuals amongst whom they labour. 

Thus at an interesting gathering at Stoke Newington, in 
February, 1867, Mr. William Carter, who has been very 
successful in home missions, especially in South wark, 
gave a detailed account of the remarkable labours of him- 
self and his coadjutors, and expressly traced their favourable 



102 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

results to two causes — firstly, to fervent, persevering, 
united prayer ; and, secondly, to the plain and constant 
setting-forth of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour of 
sinners, as the loving Son of God, bleeding and dying on 
the cross for men, and now risen on high, where He waits 
till He shall finally descend with His saints to establish 
His glorious everlasting kingdom, prophesied of so glow- 
ingly and abundantly in the pages of Holy Writ, especially 
in the Apocalypse and in the Prophets of the Old 
Testament. 

Mr. Carter mentioned that he had given five thousand 
free teas to companies of thieves, prostitutes, and 
drunkards, who had been thus drawn within the sound of 
the gospel, and many of them permanently converted. 
They had given proofs of this by maintaining honest and 
virtuous behaviour in spite of severe temptations to the 
contrary. He had engaged for sabbath services, chiefly 
for these classes, the Victoria Theatre, the Deptford 
Dancing Eooms, and a hall at Kennington, for which 
latter alone he paid £150 per annum in rent, all or most 
of which was raised in voluntary contributions of pence by 
the poor attenders. Further, every Monday, he held 
Mothers' Meetings, at which six hundred women are 
taught to sew and work whilst improving books are read 
to them. Materials at wholesale prices are provided, and 
are purchased to the extent of £10 per week, all in 
coppers, which may be regarded as so much gin-money 
saved. These various mission efforts have resulted in 
abundant and abiding conversions. About two hundred 
persons have been thus led to devote themselves to the 
ministry of Christ's gospel, and some of them have gone 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 103 

to distant parts of the earth, even to Demerara and China, 
on mission services. 

But all these successes have been evidently and pecu- 
liarly connected with the exercise of special and united 
prayer. On some occasions the Christian workers Lave 
come together for prayer, and have continued all night in 
supplication, from ten o'clock till six the next morning. 
And the results of such special prayer unions have been 
wonderful as to success in converting souls. Again, on 
some occasions the preacher has earnestly proclaimed the 
Gospel, but apparently with little result. Whereupon a 
band of Christian brothers and sisters have united for 
special prayer on his behalf, and the next evening his 
services have been attended by a marked and blessed 
success. 

The work of conversion is God's. He will be acknow- 
ledged, and entreated, and leaned on in it. " Paul may 
plant, and Ap olios water : but it is God who giveth the 
increase." This increase comes largely through prayer. 
It may seem mysterious that it should be so, but it is one 
of the plainest facts in church history. Many and many 
a time has it been with churches as it was with Israel in 
the wilderness. As long as Aaron and Hut held up 
Moses' hands in prayer, Israel prevailed : but when, 
through weariness, that prayer was relaxed, then Amalek 
prevailed. God blesses individual prayer, but collective 
prayer still more. The effects of the latter are often 
astonishing and unmistakeable. Much of the success of 
George 'Whitfield was owing to the encouragement derived 
through the united prayers of his friends and converts. 
It is said that in these union prayer-meetings he and 



104 



THOMAS SHILLITOE, 



Wesley plumed their flight for the successful labours of 
their brilliant careers. 

Our Lord proclaimed, when on earth, " The harvest 
truly is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye, therefore, 
the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers 
into his harvest." Paul earnestly entreated the Eoman 
Christians to pray for the success of his ministry. "I 
beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, 
and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with 
me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered 
from them that do not believe in Judea, and that my 
service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the 
saints, that I may come unto you with joy by the will of 
God." Similarly to the Thessalonians he appealed : 
" Brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may 
have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you, 
and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and 
wicked men." 

In his Epistle to the Colossians, he takes particular 
notice of the service of prayer rendered by one of their 
own brethren. " Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant 
of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you 
in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all 
the will of God." 

The great High Priest and King of the universal 
Church, when on earth, showed forth the duty and 
example of labouring in prayer, " continuing all night in 
prayer," at times, and supplicating in the hour of urgent 
need, even " with strong crying and tears," even with the 
very sweat of blood. 

Late years have witnessed almost unparallelled successes 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 105 

in gospel labour, mainly by a revival of united prayer- 
meetings, especially in America, Ireland, and the metro- 
polis. Such churches as have availed themselves of their 
use have profited exceedingly in consequence, and the 
word of God has been greatly multiplied. 

Thomas Shillitoe, then, whilst deficient in his apprecia- 
tion of union prayer-meetings, and even in his inculcation 
of individual responsibility in the matter of prayer for 
ministers, and for all persons exercising special influence 
upon others, yet practically exemplified in himself a 
sense of the value of intercessory prayer, and an obedient 
diligent solicitude for all in authority. 

His first interview with royalty was in 1793, when, 
after a long and solemn impression of duty to address King 
George the Third, he proceeded to Windsor, and sought 
an opportunity of speaking to the monarch in the stable- 
yard, whither he generally came before his daily morning 
ride. Mr. Shillitoe and a companion, having ascertained 
that the King had come clown to the stables, presented 
themselves there, but were being courteously repulsed by 
an attendant, when, his companion catching the King's 
eye, respectfully called out, " This friend of mine has 
something to communicate to the King." The latter at 
once walked towards the two Friends, followed by his 
attendants. He raised his hat and waited for Mr. Shillitoe 
to speak; but the latter kept silence for several minutes, 
whilst he prayerfully looked to the Lord for aid. He then, 
for about twenty minutes, earnestly addressed his sove- 
reign in a very eloquent and heart- stirring discourse. 
Tears trickled down the cheeks of the royal old English 
gentleman, who then took a respectful leave of the two 



106 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

Friends, and, instead of taking his ride, returned pensively 
to the Castle. 

Previously to its accomplishment Mr. Shillitoe had 
been very anxious in view of this service, and a few 
minutes before the address, he says, he felt " not only 
like a vessel emptied of anything it ever contained to 
communicate of a religious nature to others, but, as it 
were, washed from the very dregs." Immediately he had 
spoken the first words of his discourse, " Hear, King ! " 
all fear left him, and he stood like a wall of brass. And 
after having completely discharged the duty, he says, "his 
relief was comparable to that felt by a porter who has got rid 
of a heavy burden which had been long crushing him down. 

His next interview with royalty was with the Prince 
Eegent, at Brighton, in 1813. As it appeared quite un- 
likely that a full opportunity would be afforded for verbally 
communicating all that, on this occasion, Mr. Shillitoe 
believed he was called upon to deliver, he previously em- 
bodied his feelings in a written address, which he now 
desired to place in the hands of the Prince, and personally 
to invite his perusal of it. This time, too, it seemed most 
probable that the best opportunity of presentation would 
be afforded, by watching for the Prince's appearance in 
commencing his usual ride on the Downs. Accordingly, 
Mr. Shillitoe and three Friends posted themselves outside 
the palace-gate, towards the Downs, till the Prince should 
pass them. At length, the latter, with a numerous retinue, 
rode out, but, to the disappointment of the good men, 
turned away in the opposite direction from his usual route. 
Mr. Shillitoe seeing this, and feeling that he must seize 
the opportunity, set off at a rapid run after the Prince, 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 107 

but was out of breath when he came abreast of him, and, 
therefore, proceeded some way further to secure a brief 
rest ; and as soon as the Prince was again opposite to 
him, he called out, " Will the Prince be pleased to permit 
me to express a few words to him ? " On which, the latter 
checked his horse, stooped forward, and replied, " Sir, you 
must excuse me; lam in haste." Mr. Shillitoe persevered, 
saying, he had a letter for him, might it be received ? The 
Eegent replied, "You will please give it to Colonel 
Bloomfield." Mr. Shillitoe then delivered it to that 
attendant, and succeeded in obtaining from him a promise 
that it should really be placed in the Prince's hands. 
There is reason to believe that this was done, and that the 
letter produced some impression. On the following day 
a magnificent banquet had been announced, to celebrate 
the birthday of one of the royal family ; but, suddenly and 
without any explanation, the court visitors were disap- 
pointed by its being countermanded. And, after an 
interval of eleven years, when Mr. Shillitoe had another 
interview with the Prince, then George the Fourth (at 
Windsor, in 1824), he reminded the King that he had 
previously presented him with an address, at Brighton. 
The latter responded, " I remember you did." 

Probably, no noble or prelate ever ventured to address 
such plain-spoken and yet kindly words to the debauched and 
effeminate Prince, as the humble Quaker had penned in 
that letter taken to him at Brighton. It was a faithful and 
bold service to set before the royal profligate the earnest 
pleadings of which the following are the chief passages : — 

11 1 have endeavoured, as far as possible, to place myself, 
mentally, in thy exposed situation, and it is with real 



108 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

sympathy that I entreat thee to suffer the word of exhor- 
tation. Our being prone to sin by nature will not be charged 
against us in the great day when our future eternal situa- 
tion shall be decided, if in good earnest we have been 
endeavouring, through Divine assistance, to overcome the 
evil propensities of our fallen nature ; the sin is not in 
being tempted, but in yielding to temptation ; and suffer 
me to say, that if thou hadst accepted and co-operated 
with the offers of Divine Grace, and the all-efficient help 
inwardly manifested, there would be no grounds for those 
remarks upon thy intemperance, which, of late years, have 
been so generally made, but which, I earnestly hope, have 
been greatly exaggerated. 

" Many of those who hang about princes for their own 
interested purposes, are strewing with flowers the path 
which leads to the edge of a precipice, and are sedulously 
employed in concealing that horrid precipice from view. 
Such are real enemies. 

" Words fail me to set forth the conflict of mind, which 
at times I have passed through for many years, on account 
of thy precious immortal soul, Prince ! For although, 
as an earthly Prince, thou art invested with great power, 
and art made ruler and head of a mighty nation, thou 
rankest no higher, in the Divine estimation, than the 
lowest of thy subjects, further than as thou art found 
walking with God in obedience to His revealed will, and 
righteously filling up the very awful and important station 
which, by Divine permission, thou art standing in. So 
great has been the anguish and affliction of soul which I 
have experienced on thy account, and so strong the desires 
which I have felt for thy everlasting welfare, that I have 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 109 

thought, if the offering up of my natural life as a sacrifice 
would have effected it, I could have felt willing. But I 
am deeply and consolingly convinced, that no man can 
save his brother, or give to God a ransom for the soul of 
his friend, yet, through infinite mercy, a ransom has been 
paid by the One Propitiatory Sacrifice for sin. But to 
obtain an evidence of our interest in this Sacrifice, we must 
be willing to receive Christ in His inward and spiritual 
appearance in the heart, where He would put an end to sin, 
finish transgression, and bring in everlasting righteousness. 
For the great and awful work of salvation, if it is ever 
known to be accomplished, must become an individual work; 
and that this important business may no longer be deferred 
by thee, all that is within me, capable of feeling, craves at 
this time, under an awful sense, which has long accom- 
panied my mind, of the extreme danger thou art in from 
further procrastination. 

" I believe, never has the report gone abroad and 
reached my ear of thy grand entertainments being about 
to take place, but my poor mind has felt sorrow on thy 
account ; and in spirit I have been with thee as a mournful 
spectator at the banquet. I have contemplated thee as 
surrounded by those whom thou callest thy friends ; but 
what if they should prove in the end thy greatest enemies ? 
for, Prince as thou art, thou must appear before the tribunal 
of Divine justice and judgment. How wilt thou then give 
an account of these scenes of dissipation ? Remember the 
decrees of the Great Judge are unalterable ; and against 
them there lies no appeal. It will not avail thee then to 
plead that thou wast countenanced in these things, by those 
for whose age and experience, and even religious know- 



110 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

ledge, thou hadst respect. The awful determination will 
surely be accomplished, According to thy works so shall 
thy reward he. 

" And what is the greatest amongst men when left to 
himself and bereft of the assistance of his Maker ? When 
laid upon a death-bed, what can the prayers of others avail 
thee, if He who alone can save — He whose offers of help 
in time of health have been slighted, then refuses to hear ? 
Just and equal are the ways of the Lord, If we suffer 
the day of our visitation to pass over unimproved, the 
determination will stand, c When they call I will not 
answer.' 

11 With fervent desires for thy real happiness, both here 
and hereafter, I remain, dutifully and very respectfully, 
" Thy sincere Friend, 

" Thomas Shillitoe." 

The Prince Eegent might well say, "I remember," in 

reference to such a truly loyal and nobly Christian appeal, 

as the above. But probably he had already well-nigh 

become finally reprobate and hopelessly hardened. For 

surely, if not, he must have been solemnized and awakened 

by the affecting evidence which the poor old monarch, his 

father, presented of the nothingness, even of royalty, to save 

itself in the hour of trial. Upon him, in his age, the double 

darkness of madness and blindness had come down, and until 

death his lot was to be one of the saddest possible : — 

" Total eclipse ! no sun, no moon, 
All dark, amid the blaze of noon." 

It was in April, 1824, that Mr. Shillitoe (accompanied 
by his congenial and excellent friend, Peter Bedford) 
again met George the Fourth. This time it was in the 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. Ill 

Long Walk, at Windsor, where the King was driving his 
pony- chaise. On being approached by the two Friends, 
he stopped his horses, and not only gave Mr. Shillitoe 
permission to hand him a memorial, but also stayed to 
listen to a few earnest words which the good man addressed 
to him. After which the King replied, " I thank you." 
The memorial, unlike the one at Brighton, contained 
scarcely any reference to the King's own religious condition, 
but was exclusively directed towards calling his attention 
to the sabbath desecration and open immorality prevalent 
in the royal dominions in Hanover, which Mr. Shillitoe 
had recently visited. 

No further communications appear to have passed be- 
tween him and George the Fourth. But it has been said, 
that when that monarch was on his death- bed, he called 
out "Oh! that Quaker, that Quaker!" probably as if 
oppressed with a deep sense of despair and remorse at 
his inattention to the counsels which his faithful and 
godly subject had long ago urged upon his attention. 

When at Copenhagen, in 1821, Mr. Shillitoe had a 
series of very satisfactory interviews with the King and 
Queen of Denmark, also with the princesses, the prime 
minister, and members of the cabinet council. The Kins: 
afterwards sent him a message, expressing a desire that 
some English Friends might come and settle in his 
dominions, offering them a large tract of land in Jutland, 
and promising them his special protection, and his royal 
respect for their peculiar scruples of conscience, as, for 
instance, against bearing arms. But it does not appear 
that this kind offer induced any of Mr. Shilitoe's commu- 
nity to emigrate to Denmark. 



112 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

At Berlin, in 1824, Mr. Shillitoe visited the Crown 
Prince of Prussia, by whom he was very pleasantly re- 
ceived. His address was listened to with deep attention, 
and at its termination, the Prince, taking hold of his 
visitor's hands, exclaimed, u Do not forget me, Do not 
forget me !" A few days afterwards, the King of Prussia 
accorded an interview to Mr. Shillitoe in the palace- 
gardens of Charlottenburg. After having spoken a short 
time, the King, who had taken off his cap, exclaimed to 
his prime minister who was in attendance, " I see what he 
wants — Sunday to be well observed. Tell him I have 
read his address to Hamburg, and it has pleased me 
much;" adding, " I wish the Lord may bless you in these 
your undertakings." The Friend then continued his re- 
marks, and spoke of other public matters which called for 
alteration ; on which the King replied, " I am one with 
you in this respect, but it requires time ; such disorders 
are not easily remedied." Mr. Shillitoe then added, that 
it was his firm belief, that " by the King's thus endeavour- 
ing to do all in his power towards promoting true religion 
and righteousness amongst his subjects, it would do more 
towards his being preserved in a peaceable and quiet pos- 
session of his dominions, than all the fortifications or 
armies he could possibly raise." The King responded, 
u I believe so myself." 

After some further observations on both sides the inter- 
view terminated pleasantly, and the King ordered an 
attendant to show Mr. Shillitoe over his palace and gardens, 
and, in particular, to conduct him to the new mausoleum 
of his late beloved Queen. 

In 1832 (at the age of 78) he was permitted a free op- 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 113 

portunity of expressing the feelings of his mind on various 
important matters to King William the Fourth and Queen 
Adelaide, who, in separate interviews at Windsor Castle, 
received him very pleasantly, and entered familiarly into 
conversation on various points. King William did not 
evince a very accurate acquaintance with the history and 
constitution of his Quaker subjects, inasmuch as he ap- 
peared to think they were identical with the Moravians or 
Herrnhuters, and supposed that William Penn was the 
founder of the sect. Mr. Shillitoe and his companion Peter 
Bedford corrected these misapprehensions, and the former, 
continuing his address, spoke of his frequent earnest prayers 
for the King. " that the Almighty would be pleased to 
incline his heart so to walk in the ways of His requirings, 
that he might become a blessing to the nation over whom 
he is permitted to reign, and that the Lord may incline the 
heart of the King, to seek daily for help to be enabled to 
maintain the noble resolution of one formerly, — i Let others 
do as they may, I will serve the Lord ; ' and then, when 
called upon to surrender up his earthly crown, that he 
might be favoured to receive the crown designed for him 
to wear in the kingdom of Heaven." 

In visiting Queen Adelaide Mr. Shillitoe acknowledged 
her kindly sympathies for the poorest classes of her sub- 
jects, entreated her continued solicitude for these, and 
besought her to use her influence in discouraging the use 
of machine-made fabrics, stating his belief that the intro- 
duction of machinery was doing much mischief to the 
country, and throwing many poor persons out of employ, 
adding that it was " allowed on all sides that goods manu- 
factured by hand were generally much more serviceable 

i 



114 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

than those made by machinery." His companion, Peter 
Bedford (himself a Spitalfields silk -manufacturer), then 
took up the subject, and informed the Queen that her 
patronage of English-made silk had already been of much 
service. Mr. Shillitoe records, " The satisfaction that 
gleamed in the countenance of the Queen at this informa- 
tion was very striking. 

The two good aged men were more at home in religious 
matters than on questions of political economy and machine- 
labour. It was very natural, however, that, in a matter 
wherein the occupation of one of them was concerned, they 
should look at it from a one-sided and partial point of 
view. It was also to be expected that persons far ad- 
vanced in age should be old-fashioned in their notions. 
Mr. Shillitoe concluded his visit to the Queen by a solemn 
and appropriate religious discourse. 

The two visits which Mr. Shillitoe paid to the Emperor 
Alexander the First of Eussia (at Petersburg, in 1824) 
were probably the most interesting of all his interviews 
with eminent persons. When first introduced to the 
Emperor, the latter commenced by enquiring, with deep 
interest, after the two Quaker missionaries, Stephen 
Grellet and William Allen, with whom he had previously 
been on very intimate terms of Christian communion. 
Then ensued a free and open discourse on a variety of 
subjects connected with the religious and moral welfare of 
the Eussian empire and of its head. The Quaker and the 
Emperor then (at the particular request of the latter) 
spent some time together in united but silent prayer ; and, 
at the close of the interview, the Emperor thus freely 
expressed himself to his humble but pious visitant : — 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 115 

u Before I became acquainted with your religious Society 
and its principles, I frequently, from my early life, felt 
something in myself which at times gave me clearly to see 
that I stood in need of a further knowledge of Divine 
things than I was then in possession of; which I could 
not then account for, nor did I know where to look for that 
which would prove availing to my help in this matter, 
until I became acquainted with some of your Society and 
with its principles. This I have since considered to be the 
greatest of all the outward blessings the Almighty has 
bestowed upon me ; because hereby I became fully satis- 
fied in my own mind, that that which had thus followed 
me, though I was ignorant of what it meant, was that 
same Divine power, inwardly revealed, which your religious 
Society have, from their commencement, professed to be 
actuated by in their daily walks through life ; whereby my 
attention became turned with increased earnestness to seek 
after more of an acquaintance with it in my own soul. 
And I bless the Lord that He thus continues to condescend 
to send His true gospel ministers to keep me in remem- 
brance of this day of His merciful awakening to my 
soul." 

He then added, " My mind is at times brought under 
great suffering to know how to move along. I see things 
necessary for me to do, and things necessary for me to 
refuse complying with, which are expected from me. You 
have counselled me to an unreserved and well-timed obe- 
dience in all things. I clearly see it to be my duty ; and 
this is what I want to be more brought into the experience 
of. But, when I try for it, doubts come into my mind, and 
discouragements prevail. For, although they call me an 

i 2 



116 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

absolute monarch, it is hut little power I have, for doing 
that which I see it to be right for me to do. n 

On Mr. Shillitoe rising to take leave, the Emperor 
grasping him by the hand, said, with deep interest, " I, 
shall not consider this as a parting opportunity, but shall 
expect another visit from you before you set off for your 
own home." Mr. Shillitoe remarks, " I observed the 
Emperor turned himself from me, as I fully believe in 
order to give vent to his tears of gratitude to that Almighty 
Power who in mercy had been pleased to favour us together 
with the precious overshadowing influence of His good 
presence ; an evidence of which I never remember to have 
been more sensible of." 

At his second visit to the Emperor, Mr. Shillitoe called 
his attention, in particular, to the depraved condition of a 
multitude of serfs in Eussia, to the filthy and neglected 
condition of the prisoners, to the cruel infliction of the 
knout, and to the discouragement and almost cessation 
of the operations of the Bible Society in Petersburg, 
owing, in great degree, to the opposition of the Greek 
Metropolitan in that city. He concluded his address with 
the words, " Seeing things are thus managed, may I not 
add the language of the Most High, through one of His 
prophets, ' Shall I not visit for these things ? ' " 

Then, after a period of solemn silence, he knelt down 
and prayed earnestly, the Emperor also kneeling at his 
side. After which, on taking his final leave, he records, 
i i The time for my departure being come, I rose to go, 
and, after holding each other affectionately by the hand, he 
saluted me, and we took a heart-tendering farewell." 

Whilst in Petersburg he also had two very satisfactory 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 117 

visits to the pious Prince Alexander Galitzin, the prime 
minister. This dignitary, who had been brought up from 
childhood with the Emperor Alexander, had exercised a 
most valuable influence upon the latter. He it was who 
first induced Alexander to read the Holy Scriptures. This 
was about the year 1812, when the extraordinary and pro- 
vidential circumstances connected with the deliverance of 
Russia from the hands of Napoleon and his vast hosts, 
roused the attention of many in that empire to serious 
things. At the time when Napoleon entered Moscow, a 
general panic seized the inhabitants of Petersburg lest he 
should march thither also. Accordingly, multitudes pre- 
pared to flee, and the Emperor also contemplated removal 
from his palace. Prince Alexander Galitzin, however, 
continuing calm and unmoved amid the turmoil, excited 
the suspicion of enemies, who reported to the Emperor 
that he must be secretly in league with Napoleon. On 
this the Emperor visited him, and expressed his surprise 
at his undisturbed demeanour. The Prince replied that 
he was indeed confident and calm. " Whence have you 
such confidence?" enquired the Emperor. He replied, 
" I feel it in my heart, and it is also stated in this 
divinely-inspired volume." He then handed a Bible to 
the Emperor, but it fell from his grasp to the floor and 
opened. The Prince, glancing at its pages, saw that it 
opened at the 91st Psalm : "He that dwelleth in the 
secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High shall abide 
under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the 
Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress ; my God, in Him 
will I trust. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and 
under His wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy 



118 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

shield and buckler. A thousand shall fall at thy side, 
and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come 
nigh thee." He read these words to the Emperor, who 
was much impressed by them. The latter presently 
prepared to quit the city, but first entered the cathedral 
for a farewell service. To his astonishment a priest read 
aloud the 91st Psalm. On the Emperor sending to ask 
him why he read that portion, he replied that he had 
prayed the Lord to direct him to such portion of Scripture 
as might be most suitable under the Emperor's peculiar 
circumstances, and that psalm had been brought before 
his attention. Late that evening, in his palace, the 
Emperor desired an attendant to read to him out of the 
Bible. Once more he was astounded to hear the 91st 
Psalm. He at once exclaimed, u "Who told you to read 
this ? Has Galitzin told you ? " The attendant said he 
had neither seen Prince Galitzin nor had any one spoken 
to him on the subject ; but that, having prayed to God to 
guide him in reading, he had chosen that psalm. The 
Emperor, after this threefold indication of its being a divine 
message for his comfort and encouragement, became 
increasingly serious, and henceforth read in private a 
chapter of the Bible every morning and evening, and 
meditated on the same. 

These particulars were communicated to Messrs. Grellet 
and Allen by the Prince. The Emperor himself related 
to them other incidents of his previous life, mentioning 
that, when a child, he had been placed by his grandmother, 
the Empress Catharine, under the care of talented but 
sceptical tutors. He was, however, also trained in the 
observances of the Greek Church, and was taught to 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 119 

repeat a regular form of prayer morning and evening, but 
he disliked this practice. But on several occasions, after 
retiring to rest, he had experienced solemnizing Divine 
visitations of his soul, which so tendered him that he had 
arisen from bed and prayed on his knees, with tears, that 
the Lord would forgive his sins, and strengthen him to 
act rightly. As years passed over him and he entered 
more into the pleasures of the Court, those serious im- 
pressions became almost effaced. But in 1812, the flames 
of Moscow and the influence of the good Prince Galitzin, 
again recalled him to the fear and service of God. Then, 
too, he read the Bible, for the first time, with real interest. 
M I devoured it," he said, " finding in it words so suit- 
able to, and descriptive of, the state of my mind. The 
Lord, by His Divine Spirit, was also pleased to give me 
an understanding of what I read therein." 

At the solemn religious interviews which Stephen Grellet* 
and William Allen had with the Emperor (in 1819), they 
united both in silent worship and in fervent vocal prayer. 
The Emperor was so much affected that, Mr. Grellet re- 
cords — u He was bathed in tears." 

Mr. Shillitoe's interviews with Alexander were in 1824. 
Next year, the good Emperor died. 

That event is thus alluded to in a letter (dated Peters- 
burg, December 13, 1825,) from Daniel Wheeler : — 
"When the intelligence of the Emperor's death was made 

* For the particulars of the deeply interesting biography of Stephen 
Grellet, " the apostle of modern Quaker Missions," see his Life, in 
two volumes, by B. Seebohm : F. B. Kitto (5, Bishopsgate Street 
"Without, London). For a shorter account of Grellet, see also, five 
papers in the " Sunday at Home " for 1866, by the writer of this book. 



120 

public in the city, general consternation soon spread to all 
ranks of the people. At first I thought it possible there 
might be some mistake, as the health of the Empress 
Elizabeth* had been for some time declining, which oc- 
casioned her journey to the South of Russia. But the 
military being called upon to swear allegiance to the new 
Emperor Constantine, removed every doubt. 

" I only felt one desire. This was, that the death of 
Alexander might have been a fair one. And we have 
the most indisputable proof that it has been unattended 
with any of those horrid circumstances which have so 
often terminated the existence of the crowned heads of 
this country. I have often put up a petition that the 
hand of violence might never be permitted to touch him ; 
and, although I cannot help deploring, with the many 
thousands of Russia, the loss of such a man, yet a secret 
joy triumphs over every selfish feeling, and raises in 
my heart a tribute of gratitude and thankfulness to the 
great Preserver of men, who hath been graciously pleased 
to remove him from this scene of conflict, trouble 
and dismay. 

" I believe it has been the lot of but few monarchs to 
end their days whilst in the meridian of power, in a retreat 
so quiet and so distant from all the pageantry of a court, f 
It may be said he died in the bosom of his family. For 

* With whom, also, Mr. Shillitoe had had two very satisfactory 
interviews. She was a truly humble and heartily pious Christian, 
and died a few months after the decease of the Emperor. 

f Alexander died at Taganrog, in the far south of Eussia, not 
without strong suspicion of being poisoned. But this suspicion 
appears to have been unfounded. 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 121 

the first two or three days of his indisposition, it appears 
that he considered it of no importance, and could not be 
prevailed upon to take any medicine, to which he had an 
aversion at all times. The climate around Taganrog is 
considered very healthy, but at a very short distance from 
it it is quite the reverse. It seems that Alexander had 
been beyond the healthy boundary, and had taken cold 
upon the south coast. 

"It is very consoling to find that his mind was so 
peaceful, as appears to have been the case, when he was 
persuaded to take the sacrament. It is probable that 
delirium came on afterwards ; but towards the last he was 
perfectly sensible and collected. 

" On the morning he died, the sun broke through the 
clouds and shone into the room, when he said, — l How 
beautiful the weather is ! ' And the manner in which he 
committed the Empress to the care of Prince Volkousky, 
his faithful adjutant, although done without the assistance 
of words, plainly shows that he was collected, though de- 
prived of speech. 

" From concurring circumstances, of late date, my hope 
is greatly strengthened that he has exchanged an earthly 
crown for one immortal, that will never fade away. He 
had reigned about four months less than twenty- five 
years. The Russians say he was too mild and too good 
for them." 

Space would fail to enter into all the particulars of Mr. 
Shillitoe's various visits to queens, nobles, archbishops, 
bishops and magistrates. Suffice it to say that all were 
undertaken from similar motives of earnest desire to serve 
God and to promote righteousness among men. 



122 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 



CHAPTEE VII. 

EFFORTS IN PROMOTION OF TEMPERANCE. 

INTEMPERANCE CHIEFLY EVIL BECAUSE OF ITS ANTAGONISM 
TO RELIGIOUS EFFORT — TESTIMONIES OF EXPERIENCED PER- 
SONS — MR. SHILLITOE'S LABOURS IN THE WHISKY-SHOPS 
OF WATERFORD, CORK, &C. — INSULTS RECEIVED — ARDUOUS 
VISITATION OF SIX HUNDRED DRINKING-HOUSES IN DUBLIN 
— SCENE IN A CELLAR — HIS OWN REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES 
OF STIMULANTS AND ABSTINENCE — HIS EXTREME NERVOUS- 
NESS MUCH LESSENED — DR. CHANNING ON THE MORAL EVILS 
AND IMPERCEPTIBLE APPROACH OF INTEMPERANCE. 

Mr. Shillitoe's early acquaintance with public-house 
life probably tended to rouse his attention to the enormous 
evils of intemperance. But whether this was the case or 
not, it became evident to him, very early in his ministerial 
career, that religious labour was, in numerous cases, of 
little or no avail so long as its objects indulged in intem- 
perate habits. Many years before the question was taken 
up actively, even by its first pioneers, and whilst even his 
brother Quakers were, in general, indifferent, if not ac- 
tually opposed, to such efforts, he entered actively into an 
arduous and life-long combat with the master -evil drunk- 
enness. For experience and observation had practically led 
him to the conclusions arrived at half-a-century later by 
the bulk of philanthropic and enlightened men. But, before 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 123 

entering on a review of his labours on the question, it may 
be well to adduce a few of the more recent testimonies 
respecting it, for the interest of readers not as yet im- 
pressed by the urgency of this question. 

Archdeacon Garbett (speaking of beer-shops, &c.) says : 
" I have seen schools excellently managed, the most re- 
gular cottage visiting, the most heart- searching preaching, 
all, so far as the labourer and cottager are concerned, 
thrown away on this reck." For religious instruction 
needs a suitable soil ; just as the best seed is sown in vain 
on undrained or untilled land. 

Lord Shaftesbury declared : — iX From my own know- 
ledge and experience as a Commisioner of Lunacy for the 
last twenty years, and as Chairman of the Commission 
during sixteen years, fortified by enquiries in America, I 
find that fully six-tenths of all the cases of insanity to be 
found in these realms, and in America, arise from no 
other cause than from habits of intemperance." 

The Eev. John Clay, Chaplain of Preston Gaol, stated 
his belief, after long and accurate observation, that nine- 
tenths of English crime arises from intemperance ; and 
further states, "I would note the fact, that during two 
years, I have heard 1126 prisoners attribute their offences — 
frauds, larcenies, robberies, burglaries, rapes, stabbing, 
homicides — to drink ! " 

The late Bishop of Bath and Wells (Dr. G. H. Law,) 
said, — " Often have I noticed that in those parishes where 
there was not a single public-house, there the greatest 
regularity and happiness were to be found ; but in the 
direct ratio of public-houses was the increase of vice and 
misery." 



124 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

Mrs. Sewell, in her ballad " The Rose of Cheriton,"* 
has put into the mouth of a working man, in homely- 
rhyme, a common- sense view of the urgent needs of his 
class in reference to drinking temptations : — 

" We want help to struggle from the slough 
Placed in the way of working-people now. 
We want the workman's interest to stand 
Before the licensed victuallers of the land. 
We want a law, sir, that should put away 
The accursed drinking on the Sabbath-day. 
And workmen want the power to prevent, 
Or rather, sir, they want that Parliament 
Should use its noblest power to legislate, 
And neither give excise nor magistrate 
All but unbridled liberty to grant 
A public pest that workmen do not want, — 
The beer-shop, which all sober people hate 
Close to their home, close to their garden gate, 
Where the young child, upon its mother's breast, 
May learn the language of the drunkard's nest, 
And see its outcome, that in little time 
Is sentenced by the magistrate, as crime. 
With law expense — expenses more and more, 
For prosecuting the degraded poor !" 

# * * # # 

" But, still," I said, " good friend, you must confess 
A man's not saved, though cured of drunkenness; 
He has a deeper root of sin within 
That's not destroyed, although he drink no gin. 
There must be faith, a living faith, you know, 
On which the fruits of righteousness must grow." 

" True, sir, most true, but the Apostle Paul 
Said ' faith' must come by ' hearing' if at all. 
But through what channel shall the drinker hear ? 
Parsons don't preach where men are tippling beer. 

* London : S. W. Partridge, 9, Paternoster Eow. Price 6d. 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 125 

And therefore do we strive, and strive again, 
To break, if possible, his heavy chain ; 
That he may quit the pothonse for the pew, 
And hear of faith, and hope, and mercy, too ; 
May hear of Jesus, and of sin forgiven, 
And seek henceforward holiness and heaven." 



Mainly from its deadly antagonism to Christianity, and 
to the progress of Christ's work in the hearts of indi- 
viduals, and in the morals of communities, Mr. Shillitoe 
opposed intemperance to the utmost. His labour in that 
direction was entered upon as being a most legitimate and 
important function of his Christian mininistry. 

It was during his first visit to Ireland, in 1808, that he 
first entered heartily into the work of combating intempe- 
rance, and from that period till his death, in 1836, he 
vigorously continued the contest. During that Irish 
journey he commenced his religious temperance campaign 
by paying ninety-three visits to the whisky-shops in and 
around the city of Waterford. Crowds of people followed 
him and his companion from house to house ; the market- 
women cursed them, others joked and jibed; but the 
Friends quietly persevered in their arduous course of 
kindly exhortation and Christian protest. 

They next paid similar visits to several score drinking- 
houses in and around Carrick-on-Suir. Here they did not 
meet with much active opposition, but were "a gazing 
stock," and were abused as " antichrist." 

The drinking- shops of Xew Ross next claimed their 
attention and visitation. 

In 1810 Mr. Shillitoe started on a second Irish journey. 
He now visited the whisky- shops of Clonmel, taking them 



126 THOMAS SHILLITOE, . 

at the rate of thirty a- day. Then followed forty similar 
visits at Kilkenny, and twenty more at Callan. 

In 1811, during a third journey to Ireland, he under- 
took the disagreeable service of visiting the very numerous 
drinking -houses in the larger cities. 

At Cork he paid several hundred visits of this nature, 
and here he met with some very violent opposition. Some 
girls " set upon us as if they intended to do us a mischief, 
calling us two devils ; saying, if it was not for our respect- 
able appearance, they would beat our heads flat with a 
pot." At another place, a number of rude women fol- 
lowed the Friends into a drinking-house, dancing and 
screaming out for whisky. But some appreciated their 
devoted zeal, and exclaimed, " Our priest does not give 
such proof of his care for our welfare." One intelligent 
and civil whisky-seller said to them, " Go, speak to the 
Government ; for if your mission does not extend beyond 
this, it is doing but little. I wish all the world were 
Quakers, for I believe them to be the nearest to the truth 
of any sect ; but money has done that for them which 
persecution could not. By their seeking after money they 
are very much become like other people again." Some 
ran away from them, others insulted, and not a few 
listened attentively. At one place, Mr. Shillitoe mentions 
that "a big, dirty-looking man, who was taking his pint 
of beer at the bar, after filling his mouth with the beer, 
squirted it in my face and bosom, telling me to take that 
for Jesus Christ's sake, declaring he would go for the 
poker, and left us as if he was determined to put his 
threats in practice. But his threats did not discourage 
me, feeling the assurance he would not be permitted to 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 127 

hurt a hair of my head. I was mercifully preserved in the 
quiet, and we saw no more of him." Many of these Cork 
houses were exceedingly filthy, and reeking with intolerable 
fumes and odours. 

He next proceeded to TVatergrass Hill, Rathcormack, 
and Furmagh. At the latter place alone he made sixty 
visits, receiving, as usual, very various receptions. One 
man replied to his address, that " No alms-deeds, no good 
works, no sacrifices, no Jew, no Turk, no religion, could 
enter the kingdom : none but Roman Catholics could be 
admitted." At another house dirty water was showered 
upon him. Elsewhere, a man threatened him with a large 
butcher's knife. 

The arduous undertaking of visiting the whisky- shops 
of Limerick was next entered on. Here they were abused 
as " false prophets and false teachers." 

Clogheen, Cakir, and other places, were then similarly 
visited. At these and other places, Mr. Shillitoe called 
upon the priests, and set before them the very dangerous 
reliance of the masses of the people on the presumed 
power of priestly absolution, thinking that they might 
from time to time get drunk and otherwise sin, with im- 
punity, after each successive grant of such priestly pardon. 
But he urged that this would not avail at the Divine 
Tribunal. It would only redound to deeper condemnation. 

He now went to Dublin, and though his soul revolted 
from the very idea of personally labouring in its multi- 
tudinous whisky- dens and haunts of low vice, the duty 
seemed plain and imperative. Humbly, and in much 
prayerful dependence on the Lord, he proceeded to obey. 

But what a labour, indeed, it was. Six hundred of 



128 

these houses, for the most part filthy, low-ceiled, close, 
and noisy, were visited by this devoted Christian minister, 
in Dublin alone ! Day after day, for more than seven 
weeks, did he pursue his extraordinarily difficult under- 
taking. Several times he had to give over for the day, 
after performing some half-a-dozen visits, as nature was 
exhausted. At other times he proceeded most un- 
dauntedly, and on one occasion performed thirty-five visits 
in the day. Of course his reception comprehended all 
manner of treatment. One young man gratefully acknow- 
ledged his efforts as being those of a father of the people. 
1 l At one place it appeared as if the whole neighbourhood 
was set in battle-array against us." Elsewhere, he was 
asked if he was ordained. Then, being in vain offered 
first beer, and next spirits, a man called for bacon, 
declaring he would see what his visitor was, and whether 
he would eat swine's flesh or not. A landlord, pale with 
rage, said, " as I would eat meat on a Friday, I was 
going the high-road to hell. He wished he had us out, 
declaring what he would do to us." At another place, a 
man justified drunkenness, on the ground that the apostle 
Paul had pledged his cloak for wine, aad so had to leave 
it at Troas, but he afterwards repented. He added, that 
St. Patrick also permitted Catholics to get drunk in his 
honour, as his saint's day. Hence, there could be no 
harm in it on other occasions. 

In Barrack Street, on descending a drinking- cellar, Mr. 
Shillitoe witnessed a wretched scene. In a large room 
were parties of men and women drinking. Young girls 
lay on the benches, utterly exhausted with the night's 
revelry, and drunk to insensibility. Others were dancing 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 129 

without shoes, stockings, or caps. A fiddler was timing 
up merrily. The windows were smashed, and even their 
frames broken. For some time after Mr. Shillitoe 
attempted to address the woman in charge of this den, 
the dancers continued whirling round him, and the fiddle 
drowned his voice. But at length the earnestness and 
seriousness of the Friends commanded attention. The 
music and dancing ceased, and the wretched revellers 
listened to what was declared to them. Mr. Shillitoe thus 
describes the conclusion of this particular visit : — " After 
strength was received to utter that which was given me, 
and I had been some time engaged in addressing this band 
of human misery, I think I shall not, whilst I am favoured 
with my mental powers, wholly lose sight of the distress 
and horror portrayed in the countenances of those young 
women who had ceased their dancing to the fiddle. Feel- 
ing my mind relieved, and being about to depart, such of the 
company as were equal to it rose from their seats, acknow- 
ledging their gratitude for the labour that had been 
extended, and their desire that what had been offered 
might not be lost upon them, and that a blessing might 
attend us." 

Our space precludes us from describing the other similar 
services rendered simultaneously to the promotion of 
religion and of temperance by Mr. Shillitoe. 

But some reference must be made to his own personal 
experience. 

He was subject throughout life to visitations of very 
severe nervous depression and anxiety, alternating at 
other times with much cheerfulness. On some occasions 
he suffered so acutely from hypochondriacal attacks as to 



130 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

be brought almost to the verge of death. Thus, in 1805, 
he records that his state of body and mind was such ' ' a 
pit of horrors," that he thought he should sink under it. 
On other occasions his feelings were so morbid that he 
would fancy himself a teapot for weeks together, and be 
in dread when persons came close to him, lest they should 
break him. He has been known to run whilst crossing 
London Bridge, from fear that it might give way under 
him. After the occurrence of a very terrible murder, 
which had excited general horror, he kept indoors for a 
considerable time, from a dread that he might be mistaken 
for the murderer, and treated accordingly. He records in 
one of his memoranda, " Twice I was confined to my bed 
from the sudden sight of a mouse." 

' For these ailments he tried many prescriptions, and 
especially stimulants, but without success. At length he 
entered on a contrary course, and confined himself to a 
most rigid diet of entire abstinence from all intoxicating 
beverages and from animal food (except milk and eggs). 
The result was very satisfactory, inasmuch as, for the last 
thirty years of his life, his health and strength were 
greatly superior to that of earlier years. During the 
whole period of his Irish, Continental, and American 
travel, he was a total abstainer from alcohol and flesh. 

He was, however, more or less nervous to the end of 
life, though not nearly to the extent felt in former 
years. Thus, when the postman brought letters to his 
door, Mr. Shillitoe on receiving them would frequently 
place them unopened in a cupboard or drawer. He 
would then walk about his garden for some time in 
much anxiety and nervous dread, lest there should be 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 131 

some alarming or unpleasant tidings in the letters. Then, 
finally, he would screw up his courage to open and read 
them. 

In May, 1833 (at the age of 79) he walked from Tot- 
tenham to Exeter Hall to address a temperance meeting. 
In that speech, he detailed the circumstances of his ex- 
perience on the question, and stated that for twenty years, 
from the twenty-fourth year of his age, he had, in obe- 
dience to medical orders, habitually taken a generous 
diet of beefsteak and good ale for breakfast, and a liberal 
supply of wine and ale at dinner and supper. With 
all this support his nerves became weaker and his health 
deteriorated. Debility and frequent "horrors" were his 
usual condition. He was then advised to smoke and to 
take spirits and water. But, now in addition to the 
previous ailments, he began to lose his sleep. Laudanum 
was therefore prescribed. He began with ten drops a 
day, and found it necessary to increase the dose by 
three drops every third night. This plan was adopted 
until his nightly portion was one hundred and eighty drops. 
Notwithstanding all this vigorous and persevering obe- 
dience to medical orders, his health did not improve. 
To use his own words, " I became bilious, rheumatic, 
and gouty. I frequently had very bad colds and sore 
throat, and I can only describe the situation I was 
brought into, by saying I went about day by day fright- 
ened for fear of being frightened — a dreadful situation 
indeed to be living in." 

He next consulted a medical friend in Hampshire, who 
recommended him to abandon stimulants ; but about the 
same time his London physician ordered him to double 

k 2 



132 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

his ale, and, in particular, to drink very old Madeira 
wine. The patient accordingly procured some of the 
latter twenty years old; but he had become so weak, 
that even this had little more effect upon him than so 
much water. 

After having thus almost boxed the compass of me- 
dical advice and of stimulant experience, he resolved to 
try complete abstinence from everything intoxicating ; 
but this he felt would be a work of such extreme diffi- 
culty, that only fervent persevering prayer for God's help 
could obtain him the needful strength. He says, " I 
made up my mind to seek for help from Almighty God, 
satisfied as I was, that nothing short of His help could 
enable me to endure the conflict I must undergo. Fa- 
voured, as I believe I was, with that holy help that 
would bear me up in making the attempt, I proceeded 
all at once (for I found tampering with these things would 
not do) and gave up my laudanum, fermented liquors of 
every kind whatsoever, and my meat breakfast. My 
health has gradually improved from that time to the 
present ; so that I am able to say, to the praise of Him 
who enabled me to make the sacrifice of these things, 
that i" am stronger now, in my eightieth year, than I was 
fifty years ago, when in the habit of taking animal food, 
wine, strong malt liquor, spirits and water ; and my 
bilious, my rheumatic, and my gouty complaints, I think 
I may say, are no more. Nor have I, since this change, 
ever had an attack of that most dreadful of all maladies, 
hypochondria. I find from continued experience (it being 
thirty years since I have eaten fish, flesh, or fowl, or taken 
fermented liquor of any kind whatever) — I find absti- 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 13o 

nence to be the best medicine ; I do not meddle with fer- 
mented liquors of any kind, even as medicine." 

He then adduced his own experience when winter- 
ing in Norway and Russia, amidst ice and snow for 
months together, in proof of the utter fallacy of the im- 
pression that spirits are essential to preserve warmth 
and health of body in such regions. (The experience of 
Sir John Franklin, Sir John Eoss, and other arctic tra- 
vellers, confirms Mr. Shillitoe's opinion. So has the 
practice in other climates, of Charles Waterton, General 
Havelock, Dr. Livingstone, Eev. Eobert MorTatt, and a 
host of others. The late indefatigable Mr. Cobden, M.P. , 
declared u The more work I have to do, the more have I 
resorted to the teapot and the pump.' 1 ) 

Mr. Shillitoe concluded his address at Exeter Hall, by 
expressing his special esteem for total abstinence on reli- 
gious grounds. It had lessened his own irritability, it 
helped men to subdue evil passions, whereas stimulants 
excite these and lusts which u war against the soul and 
render us displeasing to Almighty God." 

We may suitably append to these remarks a few extracts 
in the same direction from an able and suggestive address, 
by Dr. W. E. Channing, delivered at Boston in 1837, at a 
meeting of American friends of temperance. 

" The present occasion may well animate a Christian 
minister. Why is this multitude brought together, and 
whence comes this sympathy with the fallen, the guilty, 
the miserable ? Have we derived it from the schools of 
ancient philosophy, or from the temples of Greece and 
Eome ? No. We inherit it from Jesus Christ, we have 
caught it from his lips — His life — His cross. This meet- 



134 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

ing, were we to trace its origin, would carry us back to 
Bethlehem and Calvary. 

u I begin with asking, what is the great essential evil of 
intemperance? The reply is given, when I say, that 
intemperance is the voluntary extinction of reason. The 
great evil is inward or spiritual. The intemperate man 
divests himself for a time of his rational or moral nature. 
All the other evils of intemperance are light compared 
with this, and almost all flow from this. 

" The danger of this vice lies in its almost imperceptible 
approach. Few who perish by it, know its first accesses. 
Intemperance comes with noiseless step and binds its first 
cords with a touch too light to be felt. This truth of 
mournful experience should be treasured up by us all, and 
should influence the habits and arrangements of domestic 
and social life in every class of the community." 

And in his address on self-culture, the same great 
man exhorts. " Above all let me urge on those who would 
bring out and elevate their higher nature, to abstain from the 
use of spirituous liquors . This bad habit is distinguished from 
the use of all others by the ravages it makes on the intellect. 
And this effect is produced to a mournful extent, even when 
drunkenness is escaped. Not a few men called temperate, 
and who have thought themselves such, have learned, on 
abstaining from the use of ardent spirits, that for years 
their minds had been clouded, impaired by moderate drink- 
ing, without their suspecting the injury. Multitudes in 
this city are bereft of half their intellectual energy by 
a degree of indulgence which passes for innocent. Of all 
the foes of the working class this is the deadliest. Nothing 
has done more to keep down this class." 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 135 



CHAPTER VIII. 

GENERAL PHILANTHROPIC EFFORTS RESPECTING PRISONS, THE 
SABBATH, THEATRES, AND KINDNESS TO ANIMALS. 

Mr. Shillitoe did not feel himself called upon to enter 
much' into the question of prison management in his 
own country, inasmuch as that department of philan- 
thropic effort had been so vigorously occupied by others 
who caught the fallen mantle of the illustrious Howard ; 
and, in particular, Mr. Thomas Fowell Buxton, Mr. 
Crawford, William Allen, Dr. Lushington, Peter Bedford, 
Joseph John and Samuel Gurney, and Elizabeth Fry. 
But during his foreign journeys prisoners often claimed 
his sympathizing attention and visitation. We can only 
notice briefly a few of his principal visits of this kind. 

In 1821, at Rotterdam, he, in a series of interviews 
with successive groups, preached the Gospel to the inmates 
of the large prison'of that city, about seven hundred and fifty 
in number. These being then governed by a female, styled 
" the Regent," and then eighty-two years of age, were 
under good discipline. The system of industrial prison- 
labour, recommended by Howard, was in full operation in 
that prison. The men were occupied in various branches 
of handicraft and received a share of their earnings. The 
women also were employed in spinning and sewing. Each 
prisoner was furnished with a Bible. Thus some attention 



136 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

was directed to the two main elements of criminal 
reformation, viz. : religious instruction, and self-help by 
the formation of industrial habits. A third requisite, suit- 
able classification and separation, was not sufficiently secured 
at Rotterdam , owing to the construction of the building. 

When, at Christmas, he visited the " slaves " or con- 
victs in the Norwegian state prison of Aggerhuus. 
Afterwards, with the permission of the Governor, he drew 
up a further address, which was printed, and a copy pre- 
sented to each prisoner. Its contents were sound. In it 
he spoke pointedly and satisfactorily respecting the Holy 
Scriptures, saying, " In the first place, let me endeavour 
to persuade you to cherish, as much in you lies, a dis- 
position or desire to read the Holy Scriptures, and as 
frequently as suitable opportunities offer; beseeching the 
Almighty that He would mercifully condescend to enable 
you to read them to profit ; as they are able to make 
wise unto salvation . through faith which is in Christ 
Jesus, and are given by inspiration of God, and are profit- 
able for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction 
in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, 
throughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Tim. iii. 15-17.) 
This was much better than his discourse to the Indians 
at Cataragus. 

By special permission of the King of Prussia, Mr. 
Shillitoe visited the large prisons of Spandau, near Berlin. 
On arrival there, the governor and officers earnestly dis- 
suaded him from going amongst the prisoners, telling him 
they were so desperately violent that they might probably 
take his life. Undaunted and trusting in the Lord, he 
persisted in his resolution, addressed the prisoners collec- 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 137 

tively, and with such earnest eloquence that some of them 
were deeply affected. He then felt it to be his duty to shake 
hands with each inmate separately, as a token of Christian 
goodwill . This also was satisfactorily accomplished. 

After his return to Berlin, he ascertained that, from fear 
of violence, the governor had quietly withdrawn a number 
of the most ferocious prisoners before introducing Mr. 
Shillitoe, and unknown to the latter. This produced much 
uneasiness in his mind, accompanied with an impression 
that he must make an effort to see every prisoner. For 
this purpose he applied to the Prime Minister, Prince 
Witgenstein, who, through the Minister of Justice, fur- 
nished him with a second and peremptory order to see the 
prisoners at Spandau without reserve. 

Before starting thither again, the chief magistrate of 
Berlin, meeting him, exclaimed, " So you are about to 
make another visit to Spandau. I would wish you not to 
go again. Are you not afraid ? Don't you know some of 
the prisoners murdered the last governor ? " 

Undaunted by this and other discouragements, he again 
presented himself at the prison with his order. The 
governor was astounded. " For a time he appeared like 
a man recovering from a violent electric shock, and then 
again stood like a petrified subject." Mr. Shillitoe sin- 
cerely sympathised with the officials, but duty impelled 
him to persevere. The whole company of prisoners were 
now re-assembled, many of them heavily chained. He 
then addressed them in Christian love and with much 
power. The poor creatures again listened most attentively, 
and he records, " The countenances of many of them 
appeared sorrowfully affected and bathed in tears." Then, 



138 

again, as before, he gave each man his hand as a parting 
salntation. The governor and chaplain paid many at- 
tentions to their earnest visitor on leaving. And the 
prisoners, collectively, entreated the chaplain to convey a 
message of thanks to Mr. Shillitoe from them, " and that 
many of them could say that the words that had been 
delivered amongst them reached to their very hearts, and 
they hoped would, in a future day, produce good fruits." 

Several years afterwards Mr. Shillitoe was informed by 
a Prussian magistrate that his visits to Spandau had pro- 
duced real and lasting results for good in the conduct of 
many of the prisoners, both male and female. He records, 
" This account felt like marrow to my bones, and awakened 
secret cries to the Lord my God that the praise and the 
glory might all be given to Him, and to Him alone." 

At one of the Russian prisons Mr. Shillitoe was much 
affected at the sight of a party of convicts, attended by a 
file of soldiers, preparing to walk to Siberia, a journey 
which would occupy nearly a year, at the rate of fifteen 
miles a-day, being about four thousand miles. They were 
equipped with warm and thick clothing, but some of them 
also were compelled to walk ironed. By the clemency of 
the Emperor Alexander the weight of irons had been 
reduced from forty pounds to fourteen. Mr. Shillitoe's 
sympathy was deeply excited by one of the party, a young 
officer, who, for striking a superior, had been sentenced 
to banishment for life, and was to walk the whole distance 
to Siberia heavily ironed. His anguish was extreme. 
His eyelids were red with frequent weeping, and he fran- 
tically exclaimed, in Russian, from time to time, " Can 
nothing be done for me ? " His grief arose mainly from 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 139 

having to part for ever from his beloved aged mother. He 
and the other convicts "were each presented, by Mr. Skil- 
litoe's companion, with a Testament. The young officer, 
on receiving his, seemed unable sufficiently to express his 
gratitude. On his knees he kissed the feet of the donor. 
After delivering a sympathising address to the party, Mr. 
Shillitoe adds, on leaving, " We passed the aged mother 
of the officer in the passage : the sight of her occasioned 
me an aching heart." 

At the state-prison of Sing Sing, near New York, he 
found more than five hundred men, under apparently 
perfect discipline, surrounded by no walls, working in the 
quarries by day, and shut up in separate cells at night. 
Whilst together not the slightest intercommunication was 
permitted . At times a pin might almost be heard to drop in 
that large company. Mr. Shillitoe addressed these col- 
lectively, and was delighted at the good order he witnessed. 
From Captain Lynds, the governor, he received a most 
glowing account of the system pursued ; and adds, very 
approvingly, but somewhat innocently, " On leaving this 
interesting establishment I could acknowledge that the one 
half of the order and management of it had not before 
been told me." 

But, on turning to page 156 in the memoirs of the Eev. 
John Clay, the chaplain of Preston Gaol, we find an account 
of Captain Lynds' system, which induces one to make a 
discount from the impressions left on Mr. Shillitoe and his 
readers. Of him the author of that work writes, " This 
man was a notable felon-tamer. To break down and crush 
the prisoner's mind and will was the avowed principle on 
which he worked." Mr. Shillitoe certainly noticed " a few 



140 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

sentinels under arms ;" but also states that " the only 
punishment in use for offences is a small whip of about six 
cords ;" and adds, "it is not remembered that the skin of 
any of the prisoners who have undergone this punishment 
has been broken by it." He further writes " of this 
truly admirable institution," that "there appeared such an 
air of confidential authority throughout the establishment, 
and unaccompanied by anything like terror or dread when 
the governor came in sight." Good charitable man ! Let 
us, however, hear a word more from Mr. Clay, who says, 
" The compulsory dumbness was all enforced by one single 
instrument, the cow-hide. Without authority, either 
from governor or magistrate, the lowest felon-driver on 
the establishment might condemn a prisoner to a flogging, 
and execute his own sentence on the spot. No check at all 
was there placed on the under felon-tamers. They were to 
flog offenders, or beat them with thick cudgels, at their 
discretion. Again and again it was found that men (and 
at one time women too) died from, their floggings." Some 
horrible instances are then adduced by Mr. Clay, quite 
sufficient to indicate that good Mr. Shillitoe was, at least, 
somewhat imposed upon at Sing Sing. And, notwith- 
standing the free access granted him for a religious address 
to the prisoners, it appears from Mr. Clay that " Captain 
Lynds openly proclaimed his disbelief in the possibility of 
religious reformation." This, alone, is amply sufficient 
to account for the ultimate collapse of his system. It is 
but fair to add, that of later years Sing Sing prison has 
been under excellent management. 

Another American prison visited by Mr. Shillitoe was 
the Philadelphia State Prison for Pennsylvania. That is a 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 141 

truly admirable institution. There the three real essentials 
of good prison management are, more or less, united; 
essentials which separately are failures, but which, in 
proper combination, afford the maximum of attainable 
success ; viz., industrial training, due separation, and 
religious instruction. 

Some of Mr. Shillitoe's life-long labours in promotion 
of Sabbath observance have been already alluded to. But 
it will be appropriate to notice them also a little further, 
inasmuch as they formed a characteristic feature in his 
career. 

In 1808 he published, and widely circulated, a general 
address to the influential classes in the nation, in which he 
called particular attention to the unnecessary travelling on 
the Sabbath, and to the evils of Sunday newspapers. Of 
these, he added, "They are not 'little things' if they 
obstruct our being found in the discharge of our duty to 
our Maker, and will, no doubt, if pursued, ultimately 
tend to greater evils." 

In 1817, at Sheffield, he personally visited the individual 
subscribers to the news-rooms there, for the purpose of 
inducing them to close it on the Sabbath. At other places 
he made similar efforts on various occasions. 

At Hamburg and Altona, as already mentioned, his 
efforts for Sabbath observance were very vigorous, and led 
to his imprisonment for a night. In seeking to call the 
attention of an influential person at Hamburg to the 
condition of its public morals, he received a response 
embodying a principle which, in his zealous endeavours, 
he sometimes appears to have overlooked, viz., " The devil 
must first be cast out, and then, if the heart is pure, the 



142 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

fruit will be good." Throughout life Mr. Shillitoe at- 
tached an exaggerated value to external regulations. 
Doubtless, he effected some good in this direction, but if 
he had proclaimed the root principles of the fear of an 
omniscient God and the love of a gracious Saviour, more 
often and prominently as the chief essential, then greater 
success might have resulted in the way of permanent and 
hearty obedience. 

In Norway, Denmark, and Germany, he was much 
grieved at the lax ideas of the Lutheran clergy respecting 
the Sabbath. Many of these justified, both by precept 
and example, the frequenting of balls and concerts on the 
Sabbath afternoons and evenings. In many interviews 
with bishops and clergymen, he earnestly protested against 
the mischievous influence of such sanction to evil, and 
urged upon them their fearful responsibilities to God at 
the great day of final account. 

In one of these interviews (with the Bishop of 
Christiania) he met with a very pleasant reception. That 
dignitary, on being urged to use his influence with the 
King in favour of a better observance of the Sabbath, 
replied, " I can, and I will do it." Mr. Shillitoe then, 
in a friendly but respectful manner, laying his hands on 
the Bishop's shoulders, said, " I now feel the load which 
I have so long travelled under, taken off my shoulders, 
and placed where it properly belongs, on thine." Then, 
after further more agreeable intercourse, the Bishop took 
leave of him with the words, " I greet you most friendly, 
and wish you a good journey, and that the peace and 
blessing of God may follow you everywhere." 

In various parts of France and Switzerland he made 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 143 

strenuous efforts to induce the governors and magistrates 
to suppress Sabbath abuses. 

The mayor of Congenies, in the South of France, at 
Mr. Shillitoe's petition, authoritatively closed the dancing- 
rooms there on Sundays, whereupon the young men of the 
town united in expostulations at being deprived of their 
usual enjoyment. They not succeeding in moving the 
mayor, the young women went to him in a body, and their 
leader, on her knees, begged for a relaxation of the prohibi- 
tion. The worthy official politely but firmly adhered to his 
decision, and when Mr. Shillitoe again called to thank him 
for his faithfulness, expressed his determination to abide 
by his policy throughout the term of his mayoralty. 

The Protestant pastor at Congenies being in the habit 
of uniting with his young people at playing bowls, after 
the Sabbath service, Mr. Shillitoe visited him to express 
his deep regret at such an example. It was urged in reply 
that, for about four hundred years, this custom had been 
regularly practised, and the apostolic precept, " Rejoice 
with them that do rejoice," was also quoted in defence. 
But his visitor decidedly protested against such an inter- 
pretation of that text, and left the pastor evidently 
somewhat uneasy with his Sabbath example. 

Mr. Shillitoe, in a series of personal interviews, laid 
before the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of 
London, and the stipendiary magistrates at the metro- 
politan police courts, his deep regret at the abuse of the 
Sabbath in and around London, and besought them to make 
active exertions for effecting a better state of things. In 
these visits he was, in general, received with much courtesy, 
but it does not appear that very definite results ensued. 



144 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

And in most of his interviews with sovereigns and 
influential persons, the suppression of Sabbath abuses 
formed a prominent portion of his representations and 
requests. 

In like manner theatres and dramatic performances 
received from him all the opposition he could bring to bear 
upon them ; and, in some instances, he was successful in 
effecting their suspension. Thus, during his stay at 
Barnsley, in 1816, he entered upon a vigorous campaign 
against the proprietors of the theatre there. They publicly 
ridiculed the good Quaker on the stage, and personated 
his dress and appearance. But he persevered in his 
opposition, wrote tracts against the evils of plays, and 
widely distributed them. He was, eventually, able to 
record, with thankfulness to God, their utter discomfiture, 
and the cessation of the theatre, whose effects on 
public morals had so grieved him. " Their prospects 
were so defeated they were obliged to leave the town, it 
was said much worse than they came to it ; they made 
several attempts after this to obtain supporters, but in 
vain. The theatre was afterwards converted into a 
dissenting meeting-house." Such was the triumph of 
conscientious individual influence ! 

In an interview at Copenhagen with the Princess 
Koyal of Denmark, after hearing Mr. Shillitoe's regrets 
at the patronage accorded to theatres and other gaieties 
by the clergy, she admitted the fact, and replied, " We do 
not see that improvement in the morals of the people 
which is so desirable ; for some of the clergy now take 
liberties which were not formerly practised, by attending 
the theatre and other places of amusement, whereby their 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 145 

example unfits them for the usefulness which they other- 
wise might exert amongst the people. And that is not 
all. Is it to be expected, if they are sent for to attend 
upon the sick, that they can be in a fit state of mind to go 
from the theatre or ball-room to visit the bedside of such ? 
I think not." 

Even dumb animals often participated in his beneficent 
exertions. In his memoranda he repeatedly records his 
kindly interest in their comfort and humane treatment. 
And where cases of cruelty came under his observation, 
he would take considerable pains to draw official attention 
to them. Thus, when at Nismes, he was much pained to 
learn that the sport of bull-baiting was constantly indulged 
in there. Having, therefore, obtained an introduction to 
the Catholic Bishop, he entreated his interference in the 
matter. That prelate, however, declined to exert himself, 
saying, "I have nothing to do with you. You are not 
in my jurisdiction, and I do not want any of your instruc- 
tion." He then abruptly dismissed him, with much 
displeasure manifest on his countenance. On arriving in 
Paris, Mr. Shillitoe sought an interview with the Arch- 
bishop respecting the bull-baiting ; but that functionary 
would not grant him an interview. 

On another occasion, when in Ireland, he learnt that 
the same barbarous sport was practised at Waterford. As 
he understood that the Protestant Bishop of that city had 
much influence with the authorities, he waited upon him, 
and urged his interposition. This, the Bishop cheerfully 
promised, and treated his visitor with much consideration 
and respect. When Mr. Shillitoe afterwards returned to 
Waterford, he was gratified to find that in the interval the 
bull-baiting had been discontinued. 



146 THOMAS SH1LLITOE, 



CHAPTER IX. 
LAST DAYS. 

EVENING OF LIFE AT TOTTENHAM — EFFORTS FOR HIS POOR 
NEIGHBOURS — HIS EXTENSIVE CORRESPONDENCE — LETTER 
FROM PROFESSOR THOLUCK — REVIVAL AMONGST THE 
FRIENDS — INDISPENSABLE NECESSITY FOR CHRIST'S SPIRI- 
TUAL INFLUENCES ON THE SOUL, AS OBTAINED BY A CONSTANT 
LOOKING TO THE CROSS — CHRIST FAITHFUL AND TRUE FROM 
YOUTH TO AGE — QUOTATION FROM DR. BONAR — PREPARED 
AND EXTEMPORANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS — HABITUAL REVE- 
RENCE — LAST EXPRESSIONS AND FINALLY SUSTAINING HOPES 
OF THOMAS SHILLITOE. 

After Lis return, in 1829, from the long American 
journey, at the age of nearly seventy- six, Thomas Shillitoe 
quietly settled down at Tottenham again, where during the 
few remaining years of his life he still occupied himself 
with such benevolent and religious services as his failing 
strength permitted him to undertake. 

The poorer inhabitants of Tottenham and its neighbour- 
hood now obtained a considerable portion of his sympa- 
thizing efforts, and he devoted much time to personal 
visitation amongst them. His homely manners and humble 
simplicity rendered him a great favourite amongst them ; 
and they gladly welcomed the brisk footstep and cheery 
voice of the active little man, as he came towards them 
with his habitual liveliness and freedom. 

The better accommodation of the aged poor claimed 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 147 

much of his attention in these, his declining years, and, 
old as he was, he undertook to raise a fund for an 
extensive addition to the almshouse accommodation of 
the place. He often visited his rich neighbours to solicit 
contributions for these and kindred works of charity, and, 
emboldened by the intrinsic worth of the objects, he was 
very persevering in his requisitions. It was not his 
custom to entreat, so much as to demand, in a good- 
humoured way, the needful aid for his poor clients. " I 
want such and such a sum of money," was his frequent 
salutation to his wealthy and philanthropic acquaintances. 
And, as it was well-known that " Thomas will not take 
1 No ' for an answer," he generally obtained his requests 
pretty readily. 

The high estimation in which he was held by all who 
knew him, made his way easy in such matters. Not 
merely the Friends, but persons of all denominations, 
loved and honoured him. It was the remark of a neigh- 
bouring clergyman of the Church of England, on hearing 
of his decease, " A better man never lived." 

On one occasion, when calling at the residence of a 
wealthy gentleman at Tottenham, he found, on enquiry, 
that the owner was not at home ; but his lady, hearing 
who it was that wanted him, invited Thomas in, and 
said, " Now, Mr. Shillitoe, I shall be happy to assist 
you ; for my husband left instructions that, whenever 
you called on your benevolent errands, I was to supply 
you with whatever you might ask for." Thomas named 
the sum he desired, and at once received it accordingly. 
And thus it happened in many similar instances. 

Some of these kindly solicitations were made on behalf 

l 2 



148 

of pious persons whom, in the course of his travels, he had 
ascertained to be in needy circumstances. Thus, in looking 
over his papers recently, the writer came across a very 
grateful acknowledgment of pecuniary help collected by 
him, on his return to England, for an aged and neces- 
sitous minister of the gospel, whom he had met in 
America. Such services appear to have been often ren- 
dered by him to persons both at home and abroad. 
There is now lying before the writer a letter from a 
young Englishman at Lisbon, addressed to Mr. Shillitoe, 
and warmly expressing his appreciation of his character 
and kindness,. 

Another similar letter from a person at Berlin recurs 
with grateful satisfaction to his Prussian visit, and 
his services there to individuals, as well as to public 
gatherings. The writer says — 

" Last summer I was in Pyrmont with our social friend, 
Louis Seebohm. I felt very comfortable in the society of 
his dear family. Mrs. Seebohm, a very sincere and 
amiable woman, led me, soon after my arrival, into her 
own room, to show me your picture. They spoke with 
great love of you ; and in our conversation we often 
joined in praising the gracious providence of God ? who 
brought you, an old man, from a far and foreign country, 
here to proclaim the Lord full of goodness and mercy to 
poor deeply-fallen creatures, who, in former times, were 
not taught thus to love and adore Him. 

" I am sure your visit to Berlin, and especially, the 
attention you paid to the prisoners, has been of very 
great benefit ; for since that time there has been formed 
a society for instructing and amending the prisoners. 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 149 

There are some very pious young preachers appointed 
to visit the prisoners regularly every day, and the mem- 
bers of the society endeavour to bring those who are 
dismissed from the prison to some useful employment, and 
keep a watchful eye upon their conduct." 

It was the writer of the above letter who, when he 
met religious persons from London, used to enquire, 
after the manner of Joseph in Egypt, " Doth my father 
Shillitoe still live ? " 

Mr. Shillitoe' s home and foreign correspondence was 
an extensive one. Whilst abroad on his journeys he was 
desirous of being kept fully informed of the movements 
and welfare of his intimate friends at home. Accordingly, 
two of his acquaintances, Joseph Allen and Josiah Forster, 
were in the habit of regularly forwarding to him closely- 
written folios filled with minutely detailed narrations of 
home news. These, on their receipt in distant parts, 
were read with great interest by the good man to whom 
they were addressed. 

As an illustration of the high esteem conceived for this 
simple, uneducated, but thoroughly devoted Christian, by 
many of the great and learned ones amongst whom he 
came, we may appropriately quote a few extracts from a 
hitherto unpublished letter addressed to him by one of 
the most eminent theologians and scholars of Germany — 
Professor Tholuck. 

" The hours which I passed in your company have left 
upon my mind an indelible impression ; I tasted fully the 
sweetness of the presence of Christ, who will always mani- 
fest Himself where His disciples meet in sincerity and with 
a longing after His grace. Your letters have contribute 



150 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

to impress the remembrance of those hours still deeper in 
my mind, and, as long as I live, I shall remember you as 
an experienced disciple of Christ, whom I shall one day 
meet with before the Throne of Grace. 

" As to my opinion of Quakerism, I consider the 
Friends as real, sound Christians, who are right in several 
points, but erroneous in a greater number of things, owing 
chiefly to a false interpretation of Scripture. The little 
tract, ' On silent waiting upon God,' has met with my 
full approval ; yet I cannot persuade myself that this is 
the only way of worshipping Him rightly. On the con- 
trary, loud thanksgiving and imploring is, according to 
my opinion, not less agreeable to my Saviour than a quiet 
looking up to Him. I cannot deny that thousands of 
Church- people attribute too much value to the external 
forms of worship, without keeping their heart open to 
the eternal stream that flows, conditionally, down into the 
hearts of all those that listen to Divine things. 

" A chief point with you is the article of the Lord's 
Supper. As to this, I readily believe that you may feel at 
times in as lively a manner the communion with Christ, 
as any body of those who take the sacrament ; but to avoid 
taking it is against Scripture, whatever may be said 
against it by the masters of your sect. Christ wanted to 
give us an external form, with which He connected the 
promise of sending the Spirit too, as soon as it was pro- 
perly used. I cannot see, therefore, why we should not use 
an external ceremony which Christ may bless so graciously 
as to become the means of spiritual awakening aud edifi- 
cation. It appears to me to be ungrateful not to use those 
instruments of grace which the Lord recommended to us. 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 151 

Certainly He would not have recommended them, had He 
known we are stronger than we really are. But as He knew 
that we want such external helps, we cannot contradict 
His knowledge of our weakness. 

' ' However, with me all the disputed points between the 
Church-people and the Friends are no material points of 
Christianity. The one great material point of Christianity 
is the vital belief that we are saved by the free mercy of 
God, through the life and the death of our blessed Eedeemer. 
Where this belief is an experimental one, where sin has 
been felt in its full extent and horribleness, and, after- 
wards, Christ, in His sweetness to the poor helpless sinner, 
the good fruit of this belief will shoot forth necessarily. 
And with whomsoever this vital belief is found, he is a 
child of God, and accepted in the Beloved One, may his 
peculiar opinions be whatever they will. That foundation is 
then laid which no fire will consume, although the by-work 
may all be burnt up with eternal fire. 

" I trust, my dear paternal friend, we both are built on 
that foundation. Let us, therefore, remain united in Him 
who first led us to each other, in our beloved Bedeemer, 
Jesus Christ." 

Such free and loving communication was very interest- 
ing to Mr. Shillitoe, and many such friendly letters were 
received by him, both from Professor Tholuck and other 
Christians of various denominations at home and aboad. 

Meanwhile, the good old man, after his long and ar- 
duous pilgrimage, found a most welcome repose in the 
circle of his affectionate family, who had, through the 
Lord's blessing, settled comfortably in life, and acquired 
for themselves useful and honourable positions in society. 



152 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

Mr. Shillitoe's wife, his faithful partner in so long and 
happy a union, survived her husband about two years, 
when, With prayer and thanksgiving, she passed away to 
her Saviour at the ripe age of ninety-two. 

To the very last, Mr. Shillitoe was a diligent and 
punctual attender at public worship. He was especially 
interested in attending funerals, inasmuch as the solemn 
impressions often felt on such occasions were very fa- 
vourable for the profitable reception of his ministerial 
discourses. And on these occasions his preaching was 
often felt to be deep and thorough, — going to the root 
of evil in the heart. And this is ever needful. For, 
even in the religious world, there is often little appre- 
ciation of the wide distinction between holiness and 
common virtue, and of the merely artificial separation 
between sin and crime. 

Holiness is an affectionate and really hearty submission 
to Christ's commands, as well as practical trust in 
His love and sacrificial death. According to the uncom- 
promising terms of the Bible, sin is whatever is secretly 
opposed to God's will and spirit. Much that is abomination 
in His sight is counted virtuous and creditable in so-called 
respectable society, and in many religious circles, and even 
amongst the authorities of the churches at times. Crime 
is the transgression of mere human law, and, in general, 
society reserves its indignation for this, whilst it regards 
with complacency many things which possess far greater 
intrinsic evil in the Divine sight. But the Great Day will 
reverse many of these respectable human decisions, and 
display in the unescapable sunlight of Christ all sin and 
all sinners as regarded in His estimate, and not, as here- 
tofore, regarded by human consideration. 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 153 

Mr. Shillitoe's declining years witnessed the commence- 
ment of a lively religious revival amongst his dear brethren, 
the Friends. The occurrence of the Hicksite heresy in 
America, was a means of rousing up the Society in 
Great Britain to a greatly increased care, to pay due 
honour to the blessed Scriptures given forth by the Holy 
Spirit, and to bear a yet clearer testimony to the efficacy and 
necessity of faith in the atoning sacrifice and death of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. This revival has manifested, in a 
striking manner, the influence which the clear setting 
forth of the Gospel of Christ has upon social as well 
as upon individual energies. For since the incarnation 
and self-sacrificing love of the Eedeemer have thus been 
set forth with such increased frequency amongst the 
Friends, their community has been constrained to a re- 
markable growth in every good work, but especially in 
home and foreign missions, and in the instruction of poor 
and neglected children. The Lord Jesus Christ has been 
thus experienced to be life as well as light. 

Yet not the less has the blessed scriptural doctrine of 
the Holy Spirit been precious to them. This was, 
throughout his life, a favourite topic with Thomas 
Shillitoe. And, as his days drew to a close, he again 
and again urged upon his friends the necessity for the 
positive reception of this real and ever-renewed communi- 
cation from the Lord to the heart of every believer in 
Christ, as his daily spiritual food, his indispensable sup- 
port for the duties and difficulties of life. This gracious 
gift is to be implored by fervent prayer, and in connec- 
tion with a diligent use of His most habitual and most 
honoured channel of communication, the reverent and 



154 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

meditative contemplation of Christ's person and work by 
the habitual perusal of His own words in the Holy 
Scriptures. 

For there is a constant and inseparable connection 
between the love of Christ, as the once suffering but now 
risen Saviour, and the reception of the higher manifesta- 
tions of His Holy Spirit. The Christian progress is not 
merely begun by the Lord Jesus, and then carried forward 
by the Holy Spirit apart from Him. There must be an 
ever-renewed recurrence to the great love of Him, who 
said, " I lay down my life for the sheep. No man taketh 
it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself." (John x.) It is 
mainly and permanently the love and worship of Jesus 
which brings the Holy Spirit down. To obtain and deepen 
that love there must be frequent recurrence to the Gospel 
narrations of it. For " faith cometh by hearing, and 
hearing by the word of God." 

Our limited space precludes the quotation of any of 
Thomas Shillitoe's addresses on this subject; but in 
the excellent " Treatise on Prayer," by Edward Bicker- 
steth, there is given so condensed and complete a view of 
this important doctrine, that it may be very suitably 
introduced here : — 

" Especially the Holy Spirit sheds abroad the love of 
God in our hearts, taking of the things of Christ and 
showing them to us, and so effectually drawing our hearts 
out in full confidence and love to the throne of grace. 
The gift and intercession of the Holy Spirit is the fruit 
and effect of the intercession of Christ, who, when He 
ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and received 
this gift for men ; yea, even for the rebellious. 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 155 

"Much, indeed, of the work of the Spirit is secret. 
We know not various particulars connected with it. We 
know it rather by its effects than by its mode of operation. 
' The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the 
sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and 
whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the 
Spirit.' We experience His power, and that is sufficient. 
The Christian knows that he has often knelt down averse 
to prayer — dead, dull, stupid ; almost without desiring 
the blessings for which he ought to ask. And yet with 
all his weakness, after looking for the aid of the Spirit, 
after praying, as did David, i Lord, open Thou my lips, 
and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise' (Psalm li. 15), 
and persevering in asking, seeking, and knocking (Matt, 
vii. 7), he has in such a remarkable way experienced the 
presence of God, as to fill him with joy unspeakable, and 
a hope full of glory. He has in these cases sometimes 
found an unction, an enlargement of expression, so far 
beyond anything that he had previously calculated upon, 
or could expect, accompanied by such lively and vehement 
desires and thirs tings after God, and holiness, and glory, 
as satisfactorily and evidently, to his mind, marked the 
agency and assistance of a Divine power, which maketh 
intercession for us." 

In his frequent sermons on the indispensable necessity 
for the abiding operations of the Holy Spirit, Thomas 
Shillitoe at times alluded to the blessedness and privilege 
of thus experiencing God to be a faithful and permanently 
unchanging Father to His humble children, tenderly 
guarding them from youth to age, and often enabling 
them, in the later stages of life, to recur with reverent 



156 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

thankfulness to a long and unbroken succession of 
solemnizing visitation from the days of childhood onwards. 
It is indeed a precious thing in advancing years to be able 
thus to realize the Lord Jesus Christ as " the same 
yesterday, to-day, and for ever ;" as the dearest and most 
faithful One, unchangeable and immortal, not only the 
God of childhood and youth, but as affording also an ever- 
sustaining and renewing energy amid the cares and vicis- 
situdes of middle life ; and at a still later period again 
enabling His children to realize a cheering personal mean- 
ing in the prophecy — " At evening-time it shall be light." 
(Zech. xiv. 7). 

In connection with Thomas Shillitoe's frequent sermons 
and letters on the Holy Spirit's operations, some notice 
appears needful of an opinion which he held, in common 
with some other good men of his sect, tending to limit 
the blessings of the Holy Spirit, in public preaching, 
exclusively to extempore discourses. Thus he sometimes 
spoke of manuscript and premeditated sermons as being 
merely " hashed up," and assumed as of universal and 
permanent application the words specially addressed to 
the Apostles, and under special circumstances — " Take no 
thought how or what ye shall speak, for it shall be given 
you in that same hour what ye shall speak." Herein he 
unintentionally ignored some of God's best gifts to men, 
as scriptural research, memory, reason, and prayerful 
preparation for work. And herein, too, he was singularly 
inconsistent with himself ; for he often drew up religious 
addresses, which were neither more nor less than manu- 
script prepared sermons, the very things which, under 
another name, and when read from a pulpit, he deprecated 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 157 

as " hashed up." George Fox, too, was a constant pre- 
parer of written sermons, but which he called his religious 
" epistles." There may be, and ought to be, quite as 
much prayerful dependence on the aid and blessing of 
God in writing a book or a religious document as in any 
oral address. Indeed, the former requires far more care 
and dependence, being more permanent in form than the 
latter, and often very much wider in extent of diffusion 
and influence. Anthony Norris Groves, a founder of the 
Plymouth Brethren, deprecated this objection to all pre- 
pared discourses, as being virtually a cl commanding to 
abstain from meats which God hath created to be received 
with thanksgiving." For the faculties of prayerful 
religious composition, apt quotation and appropriate 
illustration, are indeed " meats" given for use, and not for 
disuse. Their right application implies entire dependence 
upon God. \Ve are also entirely dependent upon Him for 
our outward "nieat" or food. Yet we labour for it, 
produce it, grow it, and then prepare it. And in all these 
processes we are dependent wholly upon God, and not 
merely in its final reception. 

Doubtless, extempore discourses are best on many 
occasions, but there are also many other occasions when 
properly prepared addresses are superior and more appro- 
priate. Each kind has its right place, time, and function, 
and neither should be exalted at the expense of the other. 
Dr. Horatius Bonar, in his excellent little work, " God's 
Way of Holiness," (London: Xisbet & Co.) appropriately 
says, " The Holy Spirit does not destroy or reverse man's 
faculties ; He renovates them all, so that they fulfil the 
true ends for which they were given. As He does not 



158 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

make the hand the foot, nor the eye the ear, so He does 
not make the heart the intellect, nor the will the judgment. 
Each faculty remains the same in end and use as before, 
only purified and set properly to work. Nor does the 
Holy Spirit supersede the use of our faculties by His 
indwelling. Eather does this indwelling make these more 
serviceable, more energetic, each one doing his proper 
work, and fulfilling his proper office." 

In the same work of Dr. Bonar's is a brief and excellent 
statement, relative to the permanent connection between 
the Christian's indispensable recurrence to the Scripture 
records of the dying love of our Lord Jesus, and the 
reception of the influences of His Holy Spirit. From its 
connection with the correct, and also with the defective, 
views of Thomas Shillitoe on the subject, we may quote 
it here : — 

"J3e who would know holiness, must understand sin; 
and He who would see sin, as God sees it, and think of it 
as God does, must look at the cross and grave of the Son 
of God, must know the meaning of Gethsemane and 
Golgotha. 

" Of spiritual health the Cross is the source. From it 
there goes forth the virtue, the power, that heals all 
maladies, be they slight or deadly. For, ' by his stripes 
we are healed,' and in Him we find i the tree of life' 
with its healing leaves. Golgotha has become Gilead, 
with its skilful physician and its bruised balm. The cure 
is not perfected in an hour. But as the sight of the Cross 
begins it, so does it complete it, at last. Yes, the Cross 
heals. It possesses the double virtue of killing sin and 
quickening holiness. Thus, looking to the Cross, each 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 159 

day as at the first, we are made sensible of the restoration 
of our soul's health ; evil loosens its hold, while good 
strengthens and ripens. The Cross is strength for activity 
or for endurance, for holiness as well as for work. He 
that would be holy or useful, must keep near the Cross. 

" He that would be like Christ, moreover, must study 
Him. We cannot make ourselves holy by merely trying 
to be so, any more than we can make ourselves believe 
and love by simple energy of endeavour. No force can 
effect this. Men try to be holy, and they fail. They 
cannot by direct effort work themselves into holiness. 
They must gaze upon a holy object ; and so be changed 
into its likeness 'from glory to glory.' They must have 
a holy Being for their bosom friend. Companionship 
with Jesus, like that of John, can alone make us resemble 
either the disciple or the Master. He that would be holy 
must steep himself in the word, must bask in the sunshine 
which radiates from each page of revelation." 

But Satan exerts special influence to draw away Chris- 
tians from thus looking to Him, "by whose stripes we 
are healed." Earnest frequent prayer is essential for 
deliverance from the invisible but mischievous power of 
the hateful being who still persecutes the righteous with 
outward trials and inward assaults, as he did Job of old, 
and who still seems to sift God's people as wheat, " de- 
siring to have " them, as in Peter's case. Christ prayed for 
Peter that the Devil might not succeed with him. So also 
we must pray for similar Divine protection from him. 

As Thomas Shillitoe drew nearer and nearer to the 
sunset of life, his views of the pre-eminent power of the 
Cross appear to have become clearer and deeper. Nowhere 



160 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

in Ms recorded expressions are the references to Christ's 
dying love, to His free, unmerited, unpurchaseable, un- 
deserved, and undeservable grace, so frequent as in the 
last days of his pilgrimage. And thus it has been with 
all good men, in proportion as they have grown in real 
wisdom and Christian experience. 

And we must here say a word of one characteristic of 
him, which has not been mentioned in the preceding 
pages, — his habitual reverence and holy fear of God. In 
heart and habitual feeling, and always in his preaching, 
he was thus reverent, ever conscious that the Omniscient 
Lord is a Great King, " the High and Holy One that 
inhabiteth eternity," " who humbleth Himself to behold 
the things which are in heaven and in earth." Yet, how 
often is this holy reverence lacking even in well-intentioned 
men, and in not a few who claim to be ministers and 
servants of God ? ' l The fear of the Lord is the beginning 
of wisdom; " and not the beginning only, but it deepens 
and increases, as true wisdom deepens in the soul. The 
ripe corn bows its head as it ripens. In speaking and 
thinking of our Lord Jesus Christ, we should ever 
remember that He is the Son and image of that infinite 
Almighty Deity whose created dominions embrace worlds 
upon worlds, and universe upon universe — infinities so 
sublime that our earth and all its inhabitants would no 
more be missed therefrom, if annihilated, than one single 
leaf taken from the foliage of a mighty forest. Paul fell 
to the ground before Christ at Damascus. The wrapt 
Isaiah trembled at a glimpse of His glory. And even the 
once familiarly affectionate John, when, after the Ascen- 
sion, he was again visited in vision by his beloved Lord, 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 161 

lt fell at His feet as dead." Seeing, then, bow faithful 
Prophets and Apostles thus felt their nothingness before 
the mighty Godhead of the Lord Jesus and of His Father, 
how much more is an abiding reverence needful and 
seemly for each one of us ! 

Thomas Shillitoe was able to continue his ministry and 
charitable visits, until two or three weeks before his 
decease ; and, throughout his last brief illness, he was 
permitted to enjoy the blessing of an unclouded mind, a 
privilege not always accorded in dying hours. TThen he 
finally entered ' i the valley of the shadow of death ' ' (only 
the shadowy, the glories of the Heavenly City shone, by 
believing anticipation, brightly and continuously over his 
faithful spirit. 

Amongst his last utterances were the following, " I 
am in the hands of a merciful God. Take me ; I can give 
up all in this world. Oh, come, come blessed Jesus ! if 
it is consistent with Thy blessed will. Into Thy careful 
keeping, into Thy merciful hands, I commit my dear 
children, and my dear grandchildren, All-merciful ! " " Oh 
send, if consistent with Thy holy will, send my release. 
heavenly Father, be pleased, if consistent with Thy 
blessed will, to say, i This is enough.' Send, send, O 
merciful Father, help, that I may not let go my con- 
fidence." 

Then addressing himself to his friends, he exclaimed, 
" Oh, assist me with your prayers, that I maybe released 
from the shackles of mortality. My love is to everybody, 
the wicked and all ; I love them, but not their ways. I 
truly know sorrow as to the body, but not as to the mind. 
Oh ! my head aches, but not my heart. Oh, bear with 

M 



162 THOMAS SHILLITOE, 

me, if I am impatient ; the restlessness of the body, but 
not of the mind, you can have no conception of." 

To his dear aged partner he spoke most affectionately, 
even in the very agonies of dissolution, and expressed a 
wish that they might both be buried in the same grave. 

Speaking of his bright hope of the realization of the 
glorious days hereafter, so frequently depicted in the 
glowing anticipations of Prophets and Apostles, he said, 
whilst in his last illness, " Oh, let it be known that I 
contend to the last with unremitting confidence and assur- 
ance for the second coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ to the saving of the soul." 

And here we may observe that an animating hope of 
the future blessings of Christ's millennial and post- 
millennial Kingdom, which was so characteristic a feature of 
the early Christians,* and which sustained them joyfully 
amid even torture and martyrdom, needs to be more 
prominently and frequently urged upon modern Christians, 
than has hitherto been done in these latter ages. Happily, 
it is now receiving more attention, and is being inculcated 
by the most religious persons of various denominations. 
How often did the Apostles allude to this second coming 
of the Lord, when, in infinite majesty, He should descend 
with His saints to raise His faithful ones, to establish His 
personal Kingdom, to restore the throne of David in 

* Justin Martyr, one of the earliest and most eminent of the 
Christian Fathers, writing about 100 years after our Lord's ascension, 
says, " I however, and as many as are altogether orthodox, believe 
that there will be a resurrection of the flesh and a Millennium, in 
Jerusalem restored, adorned, and enlarged, according to the pre- 
dictions of EzeMel, Isaiah, and the other Prophets." 



THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 163 

perpetual splendour, ruling thereon Himself, over Jew 
and Gentile, in the endless blessedness predicted of the 
" times of restitution of all things," when, eventually, 
11 new heavens and a new earth " shall have been created, 
when the holy City, the heavenly Jerusalem, shall have 
finally descended from God, and when "the name of the 
City, from that clay, shall be, ' The Lord is there.' ' 
(Ezek. lxviii. 35 ; Rev. xxi. 1-3.) 

With this glorious promise our Lord rose from Olivet ; 
and as He ascended from the scene of the solemn triumph 
of His incarnation, there sounded from the celestial voices 
of attendant angels the sustaining words of a new joy and 
hope for men. " This same Jesus, who is taken up from 
you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have 
seen Him go into heaven." 

And evermore the illimitable triumphs of that Kingdom 
of perfect holiness, and of the purest beneficence, will be 
permeated with the precious influences and memories of 
the Cross. Even amid celestial splendour, even in the 
centre of the throne of the Highest, was seen " a Lamb as 
it had been slain." Both in millennial times, and in the 
blissful ages following thereafter for ever, the Great King 
will be He who declared to His beloved disciple in Patmos, 
" I am He that liveth and ivas dead, and behold I am 
alive for evermore. Amen." For beneath the thin veil 
of that sacred body that suffered on Calvary, even now 
the eye of faith discerns the awful majesty of Him before 
whom the grandest angels reverently bow, — the Everlast- 
ing Father, the Lord God Almighty. 

As has been already alluded to, Thomas Shillitoe in his 
dying hours repeatedly confessed his own sinfulness and 



164 THOMAS SHILLITOE, THE QUAKER MISSIONARY. 

unworthiness. Again and again he acknowledged that all 
was of pure unmerited grace through the love and suffer- 
ings of the divine Jesus. More than once he said, " All 
that ever I have done is but as filthy rags." Thus humbly 
trusting, he could add 5 u Mine eyes have seen Thy salva- 
tion and Thy glory; when shall I feel Thy presence?" 

Consistently with this abiding confidence, his last 
recorded words were a prayer to his Eedeemer and King, 
" Oh, holy, blessed Jesus ! be with me in this awful 
moment. Come, oh, come, and receive me to Thyself. 
And of Thine own free mercy, in Thine own time, admit 
me into Thy heavenly Kingdom!" 

In his sense of entire emptiness of independent 
merit or goodness, he exemplified the words of Martin 
Boos, " They are dearer to God that seek something from 
Him than they that seek to bring something to Him." 
" Among My saints, behold Me stand 
As one that serveth still ; 
No ministration at their hand 
My purpose may fulfil. 

Nor can they aught to Me impart 
Save that I seek a broken heart ; 

Each day the debt must greater be, 
Swelling throughout eternity." 

Thus self-renouncing, thus wholly leaning upon Christ, 
thus looking forward to the grand Kingdom of the future 
age, Thomas Shillitoe closed his eyes in the slumber of 
death, and was gathered to the innumerable host of saints, 
of whom the Apostle speaks as being in like manner " fallen 
asleep" till the morning of the Kesurrection, when their 
Lord will raise them to the endless glorious life. 



INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1S62. ^ 
* Award. — S. W. Partridge, Clafs XXVIII., Section C, Honourable Mention for Illustrated Books. 




Full-paged Pictures, by John Gilbert, R. Barnes, L. Huard, and others. 

K: BRITISH WORKMAN. 

The 7eari} Part for 1866, with cover printed in Colours, price is. 6d. Parlour 
Edition, cloth, gilt edges, 2s. 6d. All the Yearly Parts are always kept on sale. 
Published in Monthly Numbers, price One Penny. 

The Complete Edition for the first Ten Years, bound in One volume, cloth, 
plain, 15s. 5 cloth, gilt edges, 17s. 6d. 1855-59, cloth, plain, 9s. 5 gilt edges, 
10s. 6d. 1860-64, cloth, plain, 9s. ; gilt edges, 10s. 6d. 

Full-paged Pictures, by Harrison Weir, W. Hunt, and others. 

CHILDREN'S FRIEND. 

The Yearly Vol. for 1866, with cover printed in Colours, is. 6d. ; cloth, plain, 2s.; 
cloth, gilt edges, 2s. 6d. Published in Monthly Numbers, price One Penny. 

The previous volumes — 1861 to 1865 — are always kept on sale, in three sorts of 
binding, as above. 

The Years 1861-66, bound in Two handsome volumes. Cloth, 5s. 5 cloth, gilt 
edges, 6s* each. 

Full-paged Pictures, by R. Barnes, Harrison Weir, H. Anelay, and others. 

BAND OF HOPE PREVIEW. 

The Yearly Part for 1866, with cover printed in Colours, price is. Parlour 
Edition, cloth, gilt edges, 2s. Published in Monthly Numbers, price One Half- 
penny. 

The First Series may be had, neatly bound in One volume, cloth, plain, 10s. ; 
cloth, gilt edges, 12s. The Second Series (1861 to 1865), bound in One volume, 
cloth, plain, 5s., cloth, gilt edges, 6s. 

All the Yearly Parts from the commencement are always kept on sale. 



Full-paged Pictures by H. Anelay, R. Barnes, and others. 

THE INFANTS MAGAZINE. 

By the Editors of ee The Children's Friend." The Yearly Volume for 1866, 
with cover printed in Colours, is. 6d. 5 cloth, plain, 2s. 5 cloth, gilt edges, 2s. 6d. 
Published Monthly, price One Penny. 



London: S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternoster Row 



Illustrated after designs by Harrison Weir and others. 

ANIMAL SAGACITY. 

A selection of remarkable Incidents illustrative of the Sagacity of 
Animals. In prose and verse. Edited by Mrs. S. C. Hall. Cloth, 
5s. j cloth, gilt edges, 7s. 6d. 

CONTENTS. 

The Three Bears; Miss Bruin. — " Charlie," the White Sergeant. — Tommy's 
Clever Trick. — The Lion, the King of the Forest ; Danco. — Gipsy and the 
Chickens. — The Elephant and Cobblers. — Old Zeb. — The Chaffinches 
and the Nest. — The Whip of Straw. — Faithful Chum. — Affection of Sheep. 
— Sagacity of Cats. — Rover's One Fault. — Sagacity of the Rat. — Robin 
Redbreast. — The Dog and the Nightingale. — Dogs Preserving Property and 
Life. — Our Noble " Friend." — The Docility and Affection of the Horse. — 
Fidelity of the Dog. — " Lab " and the Canary. — Dandie ; or, the Dog that 
could reason. — The Cat and the Blackbird. — A Dog that was kind to his 
fellow. — Dogs Saving Life. — Meggy's Grave, &c. 



NEW WORK BY DR. NEWTON. 

THE GREAT PILOT 

AND 

HIS LESSONS. 

•By the Rev. Richard Newton, D.D., author of" The Giants," &c. 
CONTENTS. 

Mary's Choice ; or, The Good Portion. — Doing for Jesus. — The Best Orna- 
ment. — The Prince of Peace. — The Best Friend. — The Secret of Safety. — 
The Best Name, — A Tree of Life. — A Heavenly Home. 

With many Engravings. Cloth, is. 6d. 



London: S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternoster Row, 



OUR 

DUMB COMPANIONS; 

Or, Conversations about 

DOGS, HORSES, DONKEYS, AND CATS. 

By Thomas Jackson, M.A. 

With Seventy-five Engravings. Cloth, 5s., cloth extra, 7s. 6d. 

[Third Edition. 



OUR 



CHILDREN'S PETS; 

In Prose and Verse. By Josephine. With Seventy Engravings. Cloth, 5s. 

cloth extra, 7s. 6d. 

[Second Edition 



SHORT STEPS FOR LITTLE 

FEET. 

By the Author of " The Children's Party,'' With Ten Engravings. Cover 

printed in Colours, is. 

[" Children's Friend" Series. 



London: S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternoster Row, 



A GOLDEN YEAR; and its Lessons of Labour. 

By the Author of " Marian Falconer. 11 With Six Engravings. Cloth, 
2S. 6d. [Second Edition. 



SPARKS FROM THE ANVIL. By Elihu 

Burritt. With many Engravings. Revised by the Author. With a new 
Preface. Cloth, is. 6d. [New Edition. 



A KISS FOR A BLOW ; or a Collection of Stories 

for Children. By H. C. Wright. With Eight Illustrations by H. 
Anelay, Esq. Cloth, is. 6d. [New Edition. 



THE STORY OF LITTLE ALFRED. By D. J. E. 5 

Author of" Story of the Lost London." With many Engravings. Cloth, is. 

[Second Edition. 

JOHN HEPPELL ; " or, Just One Glass." With 

Eight Engravings. Cloth, is. 



THE CLIFF HUT ; or, the Perils of a Fisherman's 

Family. By Miss Bakewell, Author of " Hannah Twist." With many 
Illustrations. Cloth, is. 



THE VOICE OF CHILDHOOD ; or, the influence 

and the poetry, the wrongs and the wants of our Little Ones. By John de 
Fraine. With Eight Engravings. Cloth, 6d. [Second Edition. 



HOW PAUL'S PENNY BECAME A POUND. 

By the Author of "Dick and his Donkey. " With Twelve Engravings. 
Cover printed in colours, is. [" Children's Friend" Series. 



HOW PETER'S POUND BECAME A PENNY. 

By the Author of " Dick and his Donkey." With Twelve Engravings. 
Cover printed in colours, is. 

[" Children's Friend" Series. 



London : S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternoster Row. 



ILLUSTRATED PENNY READINGS. 

i WHO'S YOUR FRIEND ? By John E. Gray. id. 

2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A REFORMED THIEF. id. 

3 WHAT HAPPENED TO JOE BARKER. By T. S. Arthur, id. 

4 THE LOSINGS 1 BANK. A Pledge for a Pledge. id. 

5 THE PLANK WILL BEAR. A Ballad. By Rev. C. Overton, id. 

6 TAKE CARE OF YOUR " 'TIS BUTS." By J. W. Kirton. id. 

7 THE MARKET PINT. By John E. Gray. id. 

8 THE SHABBY SURTOUT. By R. Huie, M.D. id. 

9 THE WONDER-WORKING BEDSTEAD. By J. W. Kirton. id 
io MY ACCOUNT WITH HER MAJESTY. By A. Halliday. id. 
ii THE WOUNDED STAG. By Rev. Charles Overton. id. 

12 THE TEMPERANCE LIFE-BOAT CREW. By J. W. Kirton. id. 

13 POLLY PRATT'S SECRET FOR MAKING £ 5 NOTES. id. 

14 THE LIFE BELT. By an Old Sailor. id. 

15 CRIPPLED JENNY 5 or, the Voices of Flowers. id. 

16 THE DOINGS OF DRINK. By the Rev. S. J. Stone, B.A. (Windsor), id. 

17 HOW SAM ADAMS' PIPE BECAME A PIG. By J. W. Kirton. id. 

18 THE SUNDAY EXCURSION TRAIN. By Rev. Dr. Leask. id. 

19 THE FIRST AND LAST LITTLE TIFF. id. 

20 FRANK'S SUNDAY COAT. By Mrs. C. L. Balfour. id. 

21 THE KING'S MESSENGER. id. 

22 PARLEY THE PORTER. By Mrs. Hannah More. id. 

Nos. 1 to 12, done up in cloth, 1/6 ,• paper boards, 1/ ,• packets, 1/. 



One Penny; Coloured^ Threepence. 

1 JOHN ROSE AND HIS LITTLE FREEHOLD. L. Huard. 

2 THE ELOQUENCE OF GRIEF. L. Huard. 

3 THE WHEAT AND THE CHAFF. H. Anelay. 

4 STRIKE AT THE ROOT. L. Huard. 

5 "DIP YOUR ROLL IN YOUR OWN POT." H. Anelay. 

6 RENT FREE. H. Anelay. 

7 THE SECRET OF ENGLAND'S GREATNESS. H. Anelay. 

8 JACK AND HIS HARD LUMP, H. Anelay. 

9 THE DOOR IN THE HEART. H. Anelay. 

10 THE LOAF LECTURE. George Cruikshank. 

11 HOME IN SHADOW. George Cruikshank. 

12 A THING THAT DRINKS AND SMOKES. George Cruikshank. 

1 3 THE TWO PLEDGES. L. Huard. 

14 KINDNESS TO ANIMALS. Sir E. Landseer. 

Nos. 1 to 12, done up in packet, One Shillimg. 

*~* If an order be sent with fourteen stamps, the complete set will be forwarded 

post free. 

London : S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternoster Row. 



RONALD'S REASON; or, the Little 

Cripple. A Book for Boys. By Mrs. S. C. Hall. With Ten Engravings, 
is. One of " The Children s Friend" Series. 



SYBIL & HER LIVE SNOWBALL. 

By the Author of u Dick and his Donkey." A Book for Girls. With 
Twelve Engravings, is. One of" The Children s Friend" Series. 



TALK WITH THE LITTLE ONES. 

A Book for Boys and Girls. By the Author of " Rhymes Worth 
Remembering. " With Thirty Engravings, is. One of " The Children's 
Friend" Series. 



ROGER MILLER; or, Heroifm in Humble 

Life. By the Rev. Geo. Orme. With an Engraving, cloth, is. 6d. 

[New Edition. 

PETER BEDFORD, the Spitalfields Philan- 

thropift. By William Tallack. With Portrait, cloth, 2s. 6d. 



ILLUSTRATED PENNY READINGS: 

being Twelve feparate Readings by various Authors. Bound in cloth, is. 6d.; 
in packets or paper covers, is. each. 



THE FOUR PILLARS OF TEMPER- 

ANCE. By J. W. Kirton, Author of" Buy your oivn Cherries" With 
an Engraving, cloth, is. 6d. Paper cover, is. 



THE BREWERS FAMILY; or, Expert- 

ences of Charles Crawford. By Mrs. Ellis. With Eight Engravings, 
cloth, is. 6d. 



MARIE W THE SEVEN CHILDREN. 

A Tale for Elder Girls. By Mrs. Geld art. With Ten Engravings, 
cloth, is. 

London : S. W PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternofter Row. 



Story of Two Apprentices : 

The Difhoneft and The Succefsful. By the Rev. J. T. Barr. With Four 

Engravings, 6d. 

" The 'Two Apprentices' mould be put into every boy's hands ; they will be fure to read 
it, and cannot fail of learning fome valuable lefTons from its pages. It is more natural and 
frue than Hogarth's Two Apprentices." — Wejleyan Times. [Tenth Thoujand. 



Hannah Twift : 

A Story about Temper. By Mifs Bakewell. With Two Engravings, 6d. 

** Hannah Twift is a young fervant girl unfortunately porTerTmg a bad temper, which gets 
her into all kinds of difficulties, even from childhood ; and ultimately is the fecondary caufe 
of her being apprehended on the charge of murdering the aunt of her miftrefs, for which me 
is tried and found guilty, and fentenced to die." — Art Journal. 



Philip Markham's Two Leflbns. 

By Author of " Dick and his Donkey." With Four Engravings, 6d. 

** Philip Markham is the title of an interefting ftory of one who was wilful and proud. 
Like Solomon's 'foolifh son,' he was more than once a 'heavinefs to his mother.' But he 
learnt obedience through fufFering. His two leflbns were dearly bought, but in the end 
worth more than they coft." — Glafgoiv Chrijiian News. 



Scrub ; 



Or, the Workhoufe Boy's Firft Start in Life. By Mrs. Balfour. With 

Seven Engravings, 6d. 

This interefting narrative of a poor London Workhoufe boy, illuftrates in a moft ftriking 
manner the value of " right principles," efpecially of honefty, truthfulnefs, and fobriety. It 
is a fuitable prefent for apprentices, and the fenior fcholars in Sunday Schools. 

[Twentieth Thoujand, 



The Rod, and its Ufes; 

Or, Thomas Dodd and Bill Collins. By Author of "My Flowers/* With 

Five Engravings, 6d. 

Contents : — A Sketch of Dodd's Family Management and its Confequences — A 
Clergyman's Difficulties — Dodd feels his own Faultinefs, and fuffers for it — Firft Misfortune 
— Firft Comfort and Second Trouble — A Stubborn Son refufes Good Advice — Collins's 
Cottage : a Peep into its Politics — The Secret of Collins's Happinefs — The Hounds and the 
Whipper-in — Sorrow upon Sorrow — Effects of Strong Drink — Friends indeed — Comfort and 
Encouragement — Darknefs and Day-dawn. 



London: S, W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternofter Row. 



THE DAIRYMAN'S DAUGHTER : an 

Authentic Narrative. By the Rev. Legh Richmond, M. A. With Twenty 
Engravings, cloth, is. 6d. 5 gilt, 2s. 6d. 



COME HOME, MOTHER ! A Story for 

Mothers. By Nelsie Brook. With Ten Engravings, cloth, is. 



MAUDE'S VISIT TO SANDY BEACH. 

A Book for Girls. By the Author of " Crofles of Childhood. " With Four 
Engravings, cloth, is. 



PROCRASTINATING MARY. A Story 

for Young Girls. By the Author of " Croffes of Childhood." With Two 
Engravings, 6d. 



ROSA; or, The Two Caftles. By Mifs 

Bradburn. A Tale for Girls. With Eight Engravings, cloth, is. 

\Ne<w Edition. 



PASSAGES IN THE HISTORY OF A 

SHILLING. By Mrs. C. L. Balfour. With Five Engravings, cloth, is. 

[New Edition. 

OUR DUMB COMPANIONS; or, Stories 

about Dogs, Horfes, Cats, and Donkeys. By Rev. T. Jackson, MA. 
With Seventy-five Engravings, cloth, 5s ; gilt, 7s. 6d. [Eighth Thoufand. 



THE LITTLE WOODMAN &> HIS 

DOG C^SAR. By Mrs. Sherwood. Parlour Iflue on toned paper, 
cloth, is. 6d. j gilt, 2S. 6d. [New Edition. 



WASTE NOT, WANT NOT A Book 

for Servants. By Mrs. Sherwood. Printed on toned paper, cloth, is. 6d.$ 
gilt, as. 6d. [New; Edition. 

London : S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternofter Row. 



THE MOTHERS PICTURE ALPHA- 

BET. Printed on Toned Paper. With Twenty-six Engravings, boards, 
5s. j cloth, red edges, 7s. 6d.; gilt edges, 10s. 6d. [Seventh Thoufand. 



A MOTHERS LESSONS ON THE 

LORD'S PRAYER, By Mrs. Balfour. With Eight Engravings, 
illuftrated cover, 2s. 6d. 5 cloth, 3s. 6d. 5 cloth extra, 5s. 



A MOTHERS STORIES FOR HER 

CHILDREN. By Mrs. Carus Wilson. With Four Engravings, 
cloth, is. [New Edition. 



A MOTHERS LESSONS ON KIND- 

NESS TO ANIMALS. With Forty-three Engravings, 2 vols., cloth, 
is. each. 



THE GOVERNESS ; or, the MiJJing Pencil- 

Case. By the Rev. J. T. Barr. With Twelve Engravings, cloth, is. 

[Fifteenth Thoufand, 



RACHEL ; or, Little Faults. By Charlotte 

Elizabeth. With Seven Engravings, cloth, is. [Ninth Thoufand. 



THE GIANTS; and How to Fight Them. 

By Dr. Newton. With Eight Engravings, cloth, is. [Ninth Thoufand. 



THE PRINCE CONSORT: His Life and 

Character. By the Rev. J. H. Wilson. With Six Engravings, cloth, is. 

[Twenty -firft Thoufand. 



COUSIN BESSIE: a Story of Youthful 

Earneftnefs. By Mrs. Balfour. With Eight Engravings, cloth, is. 

[Tenth Thoufand. 



London: S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternofter Row. 



THREE OPPORTUNITIES; or, the Story 

of Henry Forrefter. With Eight Engravings, cloth, 2s. 6d. 



CROSSES OF CHILDHOOD; or, Little 

Alice and Her Friends. By Mrs. Waller. With Five Engravings, cloth, is. 



THE CHILDREN'S PARTY; or, a Day 

at Upland. Being Stories in Profe and Verfe. By Cousin Helen. With 
Six Engravings, cloth, is. 



SONGS AND HYMNS FOR THE 

LITTLE ONES. Compiled by Uncle John. With One Hundred 
and Sixty Engravings, cloth, 5s. j coloured plates and gilt edges, 7s. 6d. 



MORNING DEW-DROPS; or, the Ju- 

venile Abftainer. By Mrs. C. L. Balfour. With Sixteen Engravings, 
cloth, 3s. 6d. j gilt, 4s. 6d. [Fifth Edition. 



TOIL AND TRUST; or, Life-Story of 

Patty, the Workhoufe Girl. By Mrs. Balfour. With Four Engravings, 
cloth, is. [Twelfth Thoufand. 



FAMILY WALKING-STICKS; or, Profe 

Portraits of my Relations. By George Mogridge (Old Humphrey), with 
a Preface by his Widow. With Eight Engravings, cloth, is. 6d. 



THE SICK ROOM AND ITS SECRET. 

By Mrs. Thomas Geldart. With Twenty-two Engravings, cloth, is. 



TOM BURTON: a Tale of the Worlfhop. 

By the Author of " The Working Man's Way in the World." With Six 
Engravings, cloth, is. {Tenth Thoufand. 

London: S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternofter Row. 



yOHN TODD , and How he Stirred his Own 

Broth-Pot. By the Rev. John Allan. With Four Engravings, cloth, is. 



THOUGHTS FOR YOUNG THINKERS. 

By Aaron Hall (Old Humphrey). With Twenty-Nine Engravings, 
cloth, is. [Tenth Thou/and. 



CLUB NIGHT: a Village Record. Edited 

by C. L Balfour. With Twelve Engravings, cloth, is. 



DOMESTIC ADDRESSES, and Scraps of 

Experience. By G. Mogridge (Old Humphrey). With Twenty-three 
Engravings, cloth, is. 6d. 






WANDERINGS OF A BIBLE: and My 

Mother's Bible. By Mrs. Balfour. With Eight Engravings, cloth, is. 

[Tenth Thoufand. 



JOHN HO BBS: a Temperance Tale of 

Britifh India. By George Drago. With Twelve Engravings, cloth, is. 

[Tenth Thoufand. 



OUR MORAL WASTES, and How to Re- 

claim Them. By Rev. J. H. Wilson. With Four Engravings, cloth, is. 

[Second Edition, 



SUNDAY SCHOOL ILLUSTRATIONS. 

By Ephraim Holding (Old Humphrey). With Thirty-nine Engravings, 
cloth, is. 6d. 



HOMELY HINTS ON HOUSEHOLD 

MANAGEMENT. By Mrs. C. L. Balfour. With Twenty-two 
Engravings, cloth, is. [Tenth Thoufand. 



! 



London: S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternofter Row. 



NANCY WIMBLE, the Village GoJJip, and 

How (he was Cured. By T. S. Arthur. Witii Eight Engravings, 
cloth, is. 6d. 



THE HAUNTED HOUSE; or, Dark 

Parages in the Life of Dora Langley. By Eliza S. Oldham. With 
Four Engravings, cloth, is. 



MIND WHOM YOU MARRY; or, the 

Gardener's Daughter. By the Rev. C. G. Rowe. With Eight Engravings, 
cloth, is. [Twentieth Thou/and. 



HOW FAMILIES ARE RENDERED 

HAPPY OR MISERABLE. By Uncle David. With Thirty-four 
Engravings, cloth, is. 



WHAT PUT MY PIPE OUT; or, Inci- 

dents in the Life of a Clergyman. Illuftrated by George Cruikshank. 
With Five Engravings, cloth, is. 6d. 



WILLY HEATH AND THE HOUSE 

RENT. By William Leask, D.D. With Ten Engravings, cloth, is. 6d. 



GOOD SERVANTS, GOOD WIVES, & 

HAPPY HOMES. By the Rev. T. H. Walker. With Fourteen 
Engravings, cloth, is. 6d. [Tenth. Thonfand. 



RAINY DAYS, and How to Meet Them, 

By Mrs. Marshall. With Four Engravings, cloth, is. 



WIDOW GREEN AND HER THREE 

NIECES. By Mrs Ellis. With Twenty four Engravings, cloth, is, 

[Thirty- eighth TJioufand. 



London: S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Pajernofter Row. 



Nettie Leigh's Birthday, 

By A. E. R. With Five Engravings, 6d. 

Contents : — The Pine-cone Bafket and the Sunbeams — 'The Drive to the Wood — The 
Ruins — Muff and the Hedgehog — The Owl in the Tower — The Lame Girl and the 
Cottage — A Difafter — The Coronation — Good Refolutions — Nettie and Minnie going Home 
— " Good Night, and Pleafant Dreams." 



Jofeph Selden ? the Cripple ; 

Or, an Angel in our Home. By the Author of ci The Dalrymples. ,, With 

Five Engravings, 6d. 

Contents : — A Peep into John Selden's Home — Joey the Cripple — His Patience and 
Endurance — A Comfort to his Mother — Timely Aid — Bitter Reflections — John Selden in 
fearch of Employment — Settles at the Iile of Wight — Joey a Cripple for Life — Is carried to 
the Beach — A Lady Vilitor — Promife of a Bible — Bookmarkers — The Happy Transforma- 
tion — Joey does what he can for Millions — Is made a Bleffing — He Sickens and Dies. 



Friends of the Friendlefs ; 

Or, a Few Chapters from Prifon Life. By Mrs. Balfour. With Nine 

Engravings, 6d. 

" Short Sketches of philanthropists, chiefly in humble life, well adapted to incite the 
pofieflbrs of a fingle talent to turn it to good account, by mowing what the poor have been abh 
to do for the ■poor" — Englijhivoman's Journal. 



Pity the Little Ones ! 

Or, Little Ellen the Gleaner. By the Author of " Haunted Houfe." With 

Two Engravings, 6d. 

" We mould think it would be almoft impofiible for any one to read this graphic sketch 
of the drunkard's home and child, without being moved with pity and fympathy for the 
little ones. We would earneftly recommend parents and Sabbath-fchool teachers to purchafe 
and carefully read this interefting narrative." — Maidftone Temperance Vijitor. 



How Sam Adams' Pipe became a Pig. 

By J. W. Kirton, Author of " Buy your own Cherries." With Five Engra- 
vings by Cruikihank. 

Contents : — How Sam loved his Pipe, and how he went to fee the Wild Beafts — How 
Mr. Wombwell objected to Smoking, becaufe it taught the Monkeys Bad Habits — Sam burns 
his Idol, and his Clothes from off his Back — Dr. Prout's opinion of the Weed — Little Pigs 
with Straws in their mouths — Charley puts a very awkward queftion — Sam becomes thought- 
ful, efpecially when his wife calls him a "Walking Chimey-pot" — Self-conqueft and 
Victory. 

London : S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternofter Row. 



BIBLE PRINTS: a Series of Twenty-four 

beautifully Tinted Engravings, illuftrative of the Old and New Teitaments. 
By Profeifor Schnorr. With Explanatory Letterprefs by the Rev. John 
Rose, B.D., and the Rev. J. W. Burgon, M.A. With Twenty-four 
Engravings, paper covers, 4s. 



A VOICE FROM THE VINTAGE; or, 

the Force of Example. By Mrs. Ellis. Crown 8vo., cloth, is. 

[Fourth Edition. 



TRUTH FRAE 'MANG THE HEATHER; 

or, Is the Bible True? By a Working Man. With Six Engravings, 
cloth, is. [Fourth Fhoufand. 



HAVE WE ANT WORD OF GOD t 

The Queftion of the Day. By the Author of " Is the Bible True ? " With 
Seven Engravings, cloth, is. 



THE TWO CHRISTMAS DATS. THE 

CHRISTMAS BOX. By Mrs. Balfour. With Five Engravings, 
cloth, is. 



THE CHRISTIAN MONITOR; or, S elec- 

tions from Pious Authors. With Fifty Engravings, cloth ; 2s. 6d. 5 cloth^ 
gilt edges, 3s. 6d. 



ILLUSTRATED HANDBILLS, for 

General Diftribution. With Eighty-three Engravings, 8vo., cloth, and 
in packets, is. each. Each Handbill may alio be had feparate, in Sixpenny 
Packets, afTorted or otherwife. 



TRACTS FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 

INTEMPERANCE. In afTorted packets. Many Engravings, is. 



London: S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9j Paternofter Row. 



THREEPENNY ILLUSTRATED BOOKS. 



INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A 
NATIVE OF BIRMINGHAM; or, 

the Cottage of Content. Sixth Thou- 
fand. 3d. 

A MESSAGE FROM WHITECHAPEL; 
or, Scenes in a London Hospital. By • 
Augufta Johnftone. Third Thoufand. 3d. 

YOUNG SUSAN'S FIRST PLACE; or, 
a Young Servant's Difficulties. 

UNCLE DAVID'S VISIT TO A NEW- 
MARRIED WIFE, and the Good 
Counfels he gave her. Third Thoufand. 

UNCLE DAVID'S ADVICE TO YOUNG 
MEN AND YOUNG WOMEN ON 
MARRIAGE. Third Thoufand. 

ANNIE BAKER ; or, the Little Pilgrim 
By Mifs M. Murchifon. Fifth Thou 
fand. 

CHARLEY'S DISAPPOINTMENT; or 
Making the Beft of it. By Mrs. Carey 
Brock. New Edition. 

MORE WAYS THAN ONE; or, the 
Little Miffionary. By Mrs. Carey Brock. 
New Edition. 



3d. 



3d. 



Z d. 



3 d. 



3d. 



3d. 



THE WANDERERS RECLAIMED ; or, 



Truth Stronger 
Thoufand. 



than Fiction. Fifth 



Thoufand. ^d. 

SEED-TIME AND HARVEST ; or, the 

Sailor-Boy's Return. 3*/. 

AN ADDRESS TO YOUNG SER- 
VANTS, efpecially to thofe juft entering 

Service. Third Thoufand. 3d. 

WHAT SMALL HANDS MAY DO; 

or, Filial AfFecYion. New Edition. 3d. 

FRANK'S SUNDAY COAT; or, the 

Sabbath kept Holy. 3d. 

JOHN JARVIS, the Reformed Hatter. 3d. 
THE TWO HOMES AND THE 

Secret. By Mrs. Balfour. > 3d. 

THE CABMAN'S HOLIDAY. A Tale. 

By Mifs Sinclair. 3d. 

HINTS FOR SMOKERS; on the Ufe 

and Abufe of Tobacco. 3d. 

THE STRIKE. A Little Comedy. "Live 

and let Live." 3d. 

ROSA MAY'S CHRISTMAS DREAM, 

and What came of it. By Nellie Brook. 3d 



TWOPENNY ILLUSTRATED TRACTS. 

WILLIAM AND MARY ; or, the Fatal I OLD OSCAR, THE FAITHFUL DOG. 
Blow. By Mrs. Ellis. 2d. | By H. G. Reid, Esq. zd. 

BISTORT AND MYSTERY OF A GLASS OF ALE. By the Author of " Buy 
your own Cherries." zd. 

PENNY ILLUSTRATED TRACTS. 

CONSTANCE E. KENT ; or, Sin a Sure 

Detective. id. 

HOW TO GROW A PLANT, and 

Win a Prize. id. 

TOTAL ABSTINENCE FROM ALCO- 
HOLIC or INTOXICATING DRINK, 

Safe, Legitimate, and Expedient. id. 

HOPE FOR NUMBER TWO, HELP 

FROM NUMBER ONE. id. 

THE ORPHAN BOY; or, How Little 

John was Reclaimed. id. 

SUNDAY ON "THE LINE j" or, Plain 

Facts for Working Men. id. 

PROVIDENCE ROW ; or, the Succefsful 

Collier. By the Rev. T. H. Walker, id. 
THE CAROL SINGERS; or, Giving 

Letter than Receiving. id. 



AUNT MARY'S PRESERVING 
KETTLE. By T. S. Arthur. id. 

SLAVERY IN ENGLAND. A Virion 
of the Night. id. 

A LITTLE VOICE. A Sudden Snare. 
By Mrs. Balfour. id. 

LOW WAGES; or, Thrift and Good 
Management. id. 

WHAT ARE BANDS OF HOPE, AND 
HOW TO FORM THEM. U 

IS HALF BETTER THAN THE 
WHOLE ? A Converfation about Sunday 
Trading. id. 

LIVE AND LET LIVE: a Plea for 

Publicans and Servants. 8 pp. 2/6 per 
hundred. 



London: S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternofter Rw 



[25,000-11-65. 



ill 

mm 

Mi 

w 



mm 






$88 

Will 



mm 

III 

ill 



^tii 



i 

Me 



A MOTHER'S STORIES FOR HER 

CHILDREN By Mrs. Carus Wilson. With Four En- 
. iju .» [New Edit'wn. 

gravings, clotn, is. *- 

A MOTHERS LESSONS ON KIND- 

NESS TO ANIMALS. With Forty-three Engraving* 
a vols., cloth, is. each. 



THE GOVERNESS; or, the Miffing Pencil- 

Cafe. By the Rev. J. T. Bar*. With Twelve Engraving, 
cloth, »• [Fifteenth Ihoufand. 

RACHEL; or, Little Faults. By Charlotte 

Elizabeth. With Seven Engravings, cloth,^ 7 ^^ 



THE GIANTS; and How to Fight Therh. 

By Dt. Newton. With E 1G „t Engravings, doth, i,^ 



THE PRINCE C0NS0R7 His Life and 

1H& rAJJ ' u - T H Wilson. With Six En- 
Charaaer By the Rev. J. H. ^ 

gravings, cloth, is. L . J J v 



COl/WiV BESSIE: a Story of Youthful] 

tUUOiiv ^^ D .,_ fT1J with Eight Engravings, 
Earneftn* 
cloth, is 



}Udl ~ yi c ^n ^ ^Balfour With Eight Engravings, | 
Earneftnefs. By Mrs. Ualfour. [Tenth' TAoufand. f( 



CROSSES OF CHILDHOOD ; or, Little 

LKUddr.d KJl Waller. With 

Alice Harriet and her Friends. r»y 
Five Engravings, cloth, is. 



Lo 



ndon : S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternofler Row. 






THREE OPPORTUNITIES; or.the 

Story of Henry Forrefter. With Eight Engravijigi, tlotk, 
2s. 6d. 



THE CHILDREN'S PARTY; or, a 

Day at Upland. Being Stories in Profe and Verfe. By 
Cousin Ellin. With Six Engravings, cloth, is. 



SONGS AND HYMNS FOR THE 

LITTLE ONES. Compiled by Uncle John. With 0ns 
Hundred and Sixty Engravings, cloth, 51. } coloured plat** 

and gilt edges, 78. 6d. 



MORNING DEW-DROPS ; or, the 

Juvenile Abftainer. By Mrs. C. L. Balfour. With Sixteen 
Engravings, cloth, 3s. 6d. j gilt, 4s. 6d. [Fifth Edition. 



TOIL AND TRUST; or, Life-Story 

of Patty, the Workhoufe Girl. By Mrs. Baleour. With 
Four Engravings, cloth, is. [Tivelfti Iboufaitd, 



FA MIL Y WALKING-STICKS ; 

or, Profe I- ortraits of my Relations. By George Mogridgs 
(Old Humphrey), with a Preface by his Widow. With 
Eight Engravings, cloth, is. 6d. 



THE SICKROOM &ITS SECRET. 

By Mrs. Thomas Geldart. With Twenty-Two En- 
gravings, cloth, is. 



TOM BURTON: a Tale of the Work- 

Shop. By the Author of" The Working Man's Way : 
World." With Six Engravings, cloth, is. 

[Tentl 



London : S. W. PARTRIDGE, 9, Paternofter Row. 



if 




„n,!in^, RY 0F CONGRESS 



022 015 912 7, 



